On rest and excuses...

[Madriver]

is this Phils out? When was the last time he played in a tournament? Right before the Ryder Cup he's says he needs rest? Note to Phil....when it is widely publicized that you spend months practicing on the majors golf courses prior to that major…when you disappear from the radar screen after tanking said majors…please….stop….accept the player that you are….you are NOT Tiger Woods…you will never be Tiger Woods…you are a great player, just not the greatest. Get over yourself and play golf and quit worrying about being the legendary golfer you are not….

Ryder Cup may mark end of Lefty's season By DOUG FERGUSON, AP Golf Writer Tue Sep 12, 12:26 AM Phil Mickelson headed home from Ireland a few weeks ago in dire need of some rest. Lefty has finally figured out what works best him in the major championships, and no one can argue with the results. He has won a major each of the last three seasons - only Tiger Woods has a longer streak over the last 20 years - by pouring so much effort into his preparation that he is out of gas when the PGA Championship ends in August. One problem. The Ryder Cup is played in September. Mickelson is the only player on the American team who has not played a PGA Tour event since the practice session Aug. 28-29 in Ireland, choosing instead to take the last two weeks off and work privately this week to get his game in shape. The Ryder Cup likely will be his last event of the year. Unless he changes his mind, his next tournament will be the Bob Hope Classic in January.

[FAHooGolfs]

That seems lame to me.... but at least he's not switching equipment manufacturers before the Ryder Cup again this year.

I went to Oakland Hills when Phil showed up with Callaway sticks... then he goes to the 18th hole all square in a foursomes match with Tiger and promptly blows it so far left, he almost hits it off the course. Nice move, Phil.

[Thrash13]

If I was as good as Phil, I would take time off after the PGA Championship too. Phil's main goal is to win majors, and when they are finished for the year, I'm sure there is a letdown emotionally and physically.

None of us know how much the hard work preparing for majors takes out of Phil, but obviously he thinks it's a lot. When you have a great looking wife and some great kids, there is nothing wrong with staying home more often.

He will be ready for The Ryder Cup next week.

[iacas]

It's tough carrying all that extra weight around. Poor baby needs some more napping.

I support his right to do this, by the way. I just think it's lame that he DOES do it this way. Guess he AGAIN won't be there for the Tour Championship.

[Thrash13]

I support his right to do this, by the way. I just think it's lame that he DOES do it this way. Guess he AGAIN won't be there for the Tour Championship.

I do agree with this, however. It's kinda crappy when he missed out on the Tour Championship because it's a very unique tournament every season.

I don't like when guys miss the Mercedes Championship at the beginning of the year either, but that's another story. That has almost turned into the top golfers' week off.

[NCGolfer]

Guess he AGAIN won't be there for the Tour Championship.

That's the worst part about the entire article. It is really, really lame that he won't be there.

To quote Eric Cartman, it's hella-lame.

[Finn07]

There are so many other tournaments during the year then just majors, and there are fans out there that want to see him play in these tournaments. I personally think its selfish. Yeah his game sucks right now but that is the schedule of the PGA Tour so start playing in the events. I understand that players dont play in every event but come on now. How can someone dictate that they are going to take the rest of the year off after the Ryder Cup. And yeah Phil is getting too fat so he needs to shed some weight and get some better fitting shirts then the ones he wears each week with the Ford Emblem on them, makes him look like garbage.

[Thrash13]

There are so many other tournaments during the year then just majors, and there are fans out there that want to see him play in these tournaments. I personally think its selfish.

At the end of the day, it's about Philly Mick, not the fans. If it's selfish to take more time off of golf and spend it with family, then I guess I would be selfish too. And besides, when he is at home, he is still doing multiple charity projects. So I disagree completely with your statement.

However, he should attend the tournaments he qualifies in, such as the Tour Championship, Mercedes Championship, etc. I could care less if he goes to any others.

[Finn07]

Thrash, at least you didnt disagree that he looks like crap with his weight and in those shirts that he wears. lol.

I really havent been reading up on Phil and made that last statement based solely on what I read on here. I dont recall it saying on here anything about family. If its a family thing then that is one thing....

[Madriver]

Thrash, at least you didnt disagree that he looks like crap with his weight and in those shirts that he wears. lol.

...so you're not comfortable with Phils "man boobs"?

[Thrash13]

Yeah, it's quite obvious Phil has gained some size in the man-boob area over the past year or so. They got out of control in about 2002 or so, and then he lost some weight right before he started winning majors. Now the man-boobs have made a comeback for Phil.

It's time for him to get in better shape.

[iacas]

Yeah, it's quite obvious Phil has gained some size in the man-boob area over the past year or so. They got out of control in about 2002 or so, and then he lost some weight right before he started winning majors. Now the man-boobs have made a comeback for Phil.

Phil's ultimate "booby" came at the U.S. Open. Or booboo.

[Baynative]

I think it's odd (fun though) that we can pick on a person we don't know about how they live their life and conduct their business.

I play just about everyday, because I love this game and can't understand why it's so hard to keep my wits about me with a golf club in my hand. This spring I just quit playing for five weeks ...I wasn't happy, didn't enjoy what was going on or how I was beating myself. It just wasn't pulling me out there so I found other stuff to do.

I wonder if pros don't have those feelings. Especially, when it's a job as well as a game.

[Charlie_Foxtrot]

http://men.style.com/gq/features/ful...4103&pageNum;=2

The Ten Most Hated Athletes Who are the most roundly despised men in pro sports? We asked their peers—and they came out swinging 8. Phil Mickelson Last August at the PGA Championship at Baltusrol, in New Jersey, a reporter turned to a golfer on the tour and said of Phil Mickelson, “Man, the fans here love Phil.” The golfer replied, “They don’t know him the way we do.” It blew our minds a little when we heard this, since Mickelson ranks among the most admired golfers in America. But today the same reporter makes his case bluntly: “Phil Mickelson literally has no friends out there. He annoys everybody.” Mickelson has earned many nicknames on the Tour, but our favorite is FIGJAM (Fuck, I’m good—just ask me). “There are a bunch of pros who think he and his whole smiley, happy face are a fraud,” another reporter says. “They think he’s preening and insincere.” Mickelson has aggressively pursued a family-man image that is crucial to his success as an endorser. In 1999, when he nearly won the U.S. Open, Mickelson wore a beeper onto the fairway to alert him when his wife went into labor. If the beeper went off during the final round, he announced, he would simply walk off the course. Some of Mickelson’s peers, smelling a PR stunt, badly wanted to call his bluff. “Everybody’s saying, ‘Oh God, I want that beeper to go off,’ ” recalls one writer. (It didn’t.) In 2003, Mickelson violated multiple taboos when he told a reporter that Tiger Woods was playing with “inferior equipment” and that he envied Mickelson’s longer drives from the tee. Woods was infuriated. “You just don’t say shit like that in golf,” says a reporter. (To be fair, another reporter says, “Phil was right.”) Shortly before the 2004 Ryder Cup, though, Mickelson abruptly switched from Titleist to Callaway equipment. He left himself little time to get used to the new balls and clubs. “It wasn’t in the best interest of the team,” says a reporter. “The only thing that it was in the best interest of was his financial gain.” The contract paid a reported $7 million to $10 million annually. “What it did was set up a bull’s-eye on him if he played poorly,” says a different reporter. “Which he did.” Most recently, Mickelson blew off the 2005 Tour Championship, though the PGA was in the midst of negotiating its new TV contract. One reporter says, “The Tour was trying to come up with a plan that would make the networks happy, so it wouldn’t have to give back a lot of money, and here’s the number three player in the world skipping the premier season-ending event. Other players said, ‘How about helping the rest of us who aren’t as rich?’ ” Adds another reporter: “It’s like not showing up for somebody’s wedding.”

[allin]

I am glad to see someone else senses he is not sincere. He seems to monitor his image and his social standing 24/7. It is hard to criticize him since there really isn't any dirt on him. His talent is and wilingness to work hard are not in question. It isn't that he is a bad person, If John Daly or Arnold Palmer are men of the people then Phil is all about Phil, as if he feels he is an aristocrat among the peasants.