Faldo vs. Mickelson, who was better?

[Guest]

I think Faldo is just a wry Englishman and was giving Phil the floor as the guest. I might be biased though as I learned some golf from Nick's VHS instructional tapes so I have a soft spot for him.

[FakeClubPro]

Replace Faldo and Nantz with Phil and someone else like Johnny Miller. Phil was great today doing commentary. Faldo is okay but loved Phil today.

[CaymanS]

When I first saw this thread, I thought the original poster wanted to compare their announcing skills. Phil was more engaging and interesting with a unique perspective although I like Faldo too.

[CaymanS]

Regarding their respective careers, Phil by far. His 40+ PGA tour wins will not be equaled by anyone currently on tour.

[cdnglf]

 

Dechambeau will pass him in 2085

[MUNIGRIT]

Who is 7? ONLY thing Faldo has over Phil is one more major. Phil had a much better amateur career along with winning on PGA tour as an armatuer.

[grm24]

Phil Mickelson proved he has a future career in broadcasting (if he wants it) - GolfWill Phil ever critique players like Johnny Miller did? For the TL;DR crowd there is this. Sorry but JM crushes Phil in the booth until further notice.

Mickelson’s most glaring weakness was his refusal to critique other players: a key facet of the color commentator role. According to Mickelson, Fleetwood is a good putter. Li is also a great putter. And an underrated ball-striker. Dustin Johnson has become “so good” at 4-foot putts. Xander Schauffele is also very good at putting. And lastly, despite not knowing Joel Dahmen, Mickelson hears that he’s one of the nicest players on Tour.

We can endorse the last sentiment and casually confirm the others. Mickelson wasn’t wrong with any of them, but was he providing anything by speaking? Nope, just filler audio.Heavy weighs the crown of the color commentator. The role often requires strong relationships with Tour players, but also the pointed ability to analyze their decisions. Johnny Miller had no issue with it at NBC, but he’s been retired for 18 months. Only Paul Azinger has shown an ability to consistently fill the void. Davis Love III was promised to be great as an on-course reporter, but he’s already taken leave to spend more time with family.

Therein lies a knotty aspect of the job. It’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of time spent watching golf from afar and figuring out what it means. At dozens of stops across the world each year. It seems improbable Mickelson would be interested in that job. He wasn’t auditioning, after all. At least not when he started.

 

 

[Jackhammer993]

I think Phil did a great job today. He was interesting and provided inside details while also being honest if he didn’t know something g. I would love to see him up there more often.

[Holy Moses]

If this was Phil’s tryout, I’m not sure if he should have gone in guns blazing and started ripping players. I’m confident that Phil would tell it like it is if he became Faldo’s replacement.

[cdnglf]

 

it might have been CBS’s tryout.

[braincramp52]

You must be listening to a different broadcast than everyone else. Or you just don't like Phil.

[TheDeanAbides]

I think it's hard to answer this question without tour bias. Most of you US based guys are going to side with Phil and put additional weight on his PGA wins, but Faldo would have had a similar record if he'd been on that tour full-time.

Having seen both in their primes I'd go with Faldo purely and simply because of the intimidation factor. Whenever he teed it up during his prime he was a shot or two ahead of almost anyone else in the field (Norman and Price excluded... although Norman crumbled around him a few times). Only a few others players in history had this effect: Hogan, Jack and Tiger.

Faldo was the best long iron player I ever saw and his driving was underrated, as was his excellent short game. He hit the ball as long relatively as Phil as a young man, but remodelled his game for precision. When his name appeared on the leaderboard everyone knew it was staying there. You can't say that about Phil...

I love watching Phil - it's exciting and emotional, but Faldo was a machine.

[80sFredriksson]

Phil easy and I am european, the guy is still competitive and whacks it passed the youngesters its amazing

[Lark]

Winning the Players is just as impressive as winning the PGA Championship.

[Lark]

Faldo has six majors, not seven, and never won the Players. Phil has five and a Players Championship.

[doublehans]

No, Phil likes to dominate the conversation too much. It WAS fun for the time he did it yesterday, but his act would get old if you had to listen to it all the time. Phil in the booth full-time would be mandatory mute button for a lot of people. Faldo can be goofy and awkward at times, but he knows how to be a team player enough of the time to make it work.

[doublehans]

I feel the same. Faldo was just better. The way he controlled the ball throughout the bag. Now, Phil is fun because he will try anything and has the skill to pull it off a lot of time. But I appreciate the mastery of Faldo more.

However, if the question had been BETTER CAREER instead of just who was just generally better, then I think Phil's longevity makes his overall career better. Nick's career all but ended at 40 (in retrospect, the 1996 Masters was really the end for him, albeit a masterclass ending). Plus he wasnt really that dominant player until he re-tooled his swing in the mid-80s. so it was really just a decade of vintage Faldo. Mickelson has kept his swing basically the same throughout his career. The only true change we see with Phil is that he struggled with driver spin pre-proV1, so there's an up-tick post-2000 for him once he committed to the solid core ball. But regardless he mattered for a lot longer period than Faldo. So better career Phil, but who was the better golfer, Faldo.

[braincramp52]

I thought he did what a analyst is supposed to do. Give his opinion. I felt I knew more about the way the golf course plays after listening to him. Besides that,Phil was brought in to just wing it. If he was part of the regular broadcast they have strict guidelines to which he would have to abide to.

[doublehans]

It's always possible Phil would adapt to the team environment if he was a regular. Would he tho? I dunno. Phil has a long history of wanting to dominate the conversation. I'll just say its not like when Jack comes on at the Memorial and he fits right into a team environment immediately (while also giving opinions). Certainly was fun for that time and I would love for him to do short stints like that again, but would be skeptical he could do it as a regular (which seemed like where the convo was going - altho thats probably a moot point because he makes far more as a player/pitch man than he would in the booth).

[Ghost of Snead]

I have a recurring nightmare of having Thanksgiving dinner at the Mickelsons.

[TheDeanAbides]

I tend to agree. Nick's swing fell apart in about '98. For a few years before he retired he literally hit it like an 18 - it was horrible to watch.

[bscinstnct]

 

I agree, it was hysterical to just have crazy Phil come in and tick off Faldo and be all goofy but it would wear thin in a week or two.

[FakeClubPro]

Nantz is fawning and sappy.

[brew4eagle]

It can be cheesy at times, but I really like him on air

[Body_Visions]

I created this thread. I think this pretty much sums it up.

 

Im an American, by the way.

[TheDeanAbides]

Do I win a prize?

[cardoustie]

Whether it is Phil or someone else I do like a top player in the booth after the round to talk about how some of the holes are playing and hear their thoughts and process

[MUNIGRIT]

Who had a better amateur and college career than Phil other than Tiger?

[cdnglf]

Rory. He skipped the d-league entirely.

[MUNIGRIT]

So did Phil because he actually won on tour as an amateur in college. There is something to be said about dominating the college scene and winning 3 NCAA individual titles and winning 16 college tournaments.