Your Opinion of Mickelson

[bschmedindeed]

Likes/Dislikes

I have been seeing a good amount of Phil topics lately so i decided to start my own. I was just curious to see what everybody thought of phil, both on and off the course. I don't like to judge people before I meet them, but to me Phil can come off rather fake at times with the constant smiling, and the always giddy attitude. Maybe he really is like this all the time but just my opinion he comes off fake. I've heard he isn't the most liked guy out on tour either. But regardless he is one of the best golfers I have ever personally watched play the game I'm curious to see what everybody else thinks! (cool)

[coco]

All I can say is that I wish I could work whenever I felt like it and my boss would not say a thing about it.

I think he is a fantastic golfer, but I dislike his attitude a great deal ( not just his, other top players as well ) about how many tourneys he plays.....just my .02

[Langlands]

As a lifelong golf fan I find it hard to say that I don't like a player who is that good. Wish he would wash his hair more though, it always looks greasy to me. (cool)

[Lionstar]

I think Phil puts on his smiley because he likes to,,,maybe it's fake,,maybe not,,but Id rather see a fake smile of acknowledgement from any Tour player than a stern look of indifference,,or even disdain for the fans, as is evident from many players.

[dtwainright]

He's fine in my book. I guess I don't expect these guys to be perfect. If it were you or I on tour, I'm sure we'd all do things that some people like and dislike.

 

I would wash my hair everyday though...

 

--TW

[acor58]

Those of you that don't like Phil should really read this...

 

Lefty gets it right

Ex-NFL tackle, family touched

BY PAUL DAUGHERTY | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

 

 

On knees gnarled as driftwood, Conrad Dobler rose to take the phone call that would change his daughter's life. On the other end of the line was a lawyer named Glenn Cohen, who had been instructed by one of his clients to pay for the college education of Dobler's daughter, Holli.

 

There are good deeds and there are good deeds. They're separated by their size, of course, but also by the amount of noise that is attached. Oprah Winfrey building a house for someone is a good deed that everyone knows about. Phil Mickelson offering to pay Holli Dobler's way through four years at Miami University is something else entirely.

 

Mickelson had seen on TV a piece about the Dobler family: Conrad, for 12 years among the meanest and toughest players in the NFL, now reduced to gimpdom by multiple surgeries to his replaced knees; Joy, his wife, who on July 4, 2001, fell from a hammock in their backyard, breaking her neck and becoming a quadriplegic; and their six children, one of whom was Holli, struggling to make sense of it all.

 

 

Mickelson was moved. He had Cohen make the call.

 

"When he called me, I was so choked up, it was very difficult for me to talk to him," Conrad recalled Thursday. "Having played so long in a man's man's game, I was a little embarrassed by it."

 

Dobler told the wheelchair-bound Joy what had just occurred.

 

"Who's Phil Mickelson to be doing this for you?" was her reaction.

 

Some three years later, the question remains unanswered. As Conrad said, "You wonder every day what went through his mind."

 

We'll get no answer from Mickelson. "I don't feel very comfortable talking about the subject," he said as recently as Sunday.

 

None of the Doblers has ever met Mickelson; Holli has never spoken to him. There is a plan for Holli and her parents to hook up with the golfer at the Memorial Tournament in Muirfield in May. Mickelson has made it clear that won't happen if any media is present.

 

Some of us spend considerable time pondering the allure of celebrity athletes, when so often they let us down.

 

The answer comes just enough: Enough of them use their ability to do well in their professions to do good for others.

 

"Phil has a beautiful family, beautiful wife and children. He is at the top of his profession. The only thing I can say he's missing is wings," Joy Dobler said. "He's an angel."

 

A recent story in Golf World magazine said Mickelson's first check for Holli was for $20,000. He pledged to cover any increases, so the check for Holli's sophomore year this year came to $22,000. As Joy put it, "We were overwhelmed by it at first, and we remain overwhelmed."

 

Holli, a diligent student in high school in Leawood, Kan., got multiple scholarship offers, but not from Miami, where she really wanted to go. The Doblers would have made sure she went to college somewhere, even as Conrad's condition and Joy's paralysis had drained their savings. Miami was probably out of the question. Until Mickelson sprouted a pair of figurative wings.

 

"I was probably going to (the University of Kansas)," Holli said this week. "It was just an incredibly generous thing for him to do."

 

Meanwhile, Joy Dobler's story is equally inspirational. When she fell "one foot" from the hammock, she knew she was paralyzed.

 

"I hit the ground at a perfect spot to break my neck," she said. "If I tried a million times to do it, I would not be able to do it" again.

 

The C-5 and C-6 vertebrae had been broken. She was paralyzed from the shoulders down and given less than 1 percent chance of walking or even moving her arms again. Thanks in part to grueling therapy, she has regained use of her hands and movement in her feet. She recently got back her driver's license.

 

"I will dance at Holli's wedding," Joy Dobler said. "I will hold her children."

 

Joy spends most of her time doing charity work and fundraising for spinal cord research. She and Conrad have spent long hours raising money for various things over the years, which makes Mickelson's gift all the more fitting and life-affirming.

 

"When you grow up, you're taught to give. When you get out in the real world, people start taking things from you, including your trust," said Conrad, who still battles the NFL for better pensions and health care benefits for its retired players.

 

"That makes you a very hard person. But then you have someone come along like Phil, it brings back your faith in people."

 

Holli Dobler has two-plus years left at Miami, where she's majoring in English literature and wants to teach. She already has learned an invaluable lesson about giving back quietly.

 

"It's just really nice to see that people care, without worrying about personal gain," she said.

[drew123]

what's it they call him on tour; FIGJAM F*** I'm good just ask me

 

Actually I have no idea whether that is true or not just what I heard. But in my book Phil is fine. Why in the world would I get mad at a guy for smiling all the time.

[Lionstar]

Those of you that don't like Phil should really read this...

 

Lefty gets it right

Ex-NFL tackle, family touched

BY PAUL DAUGHERTY | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

 

 

On knees gnarled as driftwood, Conrad Dobler rose to take the phone call that would change his daughter's life. On the other end of the line was a lawyer named Glenn Cohen, who had been instructed by one of his clients to pay for the college education of Dobler's daughter, Holli.

 

There are good deeds and there are good deeds. They're separated by their size, of course, but also by the amount of noise that is attached. Oprah Winfrey building a house for someone is a good deed that everyone knows about. Phil Mickelson offering to pay Holli Dobler's way through four years at Miami University is something else entirely.

 

Mickelson had seen on TV a piece about the Dobler family: Conrad, for 12 years among the meanest and toughest players in the NFL, now reduced to gimpdom by multiple surgeries to his replaced knees; Joy, his wife, who on July 4, 2001, fell from a hammock in their backyard, breaking her neck and becoming a quadriplegic; and their six children, one of whom was Holli, struggling to make sense of it all.

 

 

Mickelson was moved. He had Cohen make the call.

 

"When he called me, I was so choked up, it was very difficult for me to talk to him," Conrad recalled Thursday. "Having played so long in a man's man's game, I was a little embarrassed by it."

 

Dobler told the wheelchair-bound Joy what had just occurred.

 

"Who's Phil Mickelson to be doing this for you?" was her reaction.

 

Some three years later, the question remains unanswered. As Conrad said, "You wonder every day what went through his mind."

 

We'll get no answer from Mickelson. "I don't feel very comfortable talking about the subject," he said as recently as Sunday.

 

None of the Doblers has ever met Mickelson; Holli has never spoken to him. There is a plan for Holli and her parents to hook up with the golfer at the Memorial Tournament in Muirfield in May. Mickelson has made it clear that won't happen if any media is present.

 

Some of us spend considerable time pondering the allure of celebrity athletes, when so often they let us down.

 

The answer comes just enough: Enough of them use their ability to do well in their professions to do good for others.

 

"Phil has a beautiful family, beautiful wife and children. He is at the top of his profession. The only thing I can say he's missing is wings," Joy Dobler said. "He's an angel."

 

A recent story in Golf World magazine said Mickelson's first check for Holli was for $20,000. He pledged to cover any increases, so the check for Holli's sophomore year this year came to $22,000. As Joy put it, "We were overwhelmed by it at first, and we remain overwhelmed."

 

Holli, a diligent student in high school in Leawood, Kan., got multiple scholarship offers, but not from Miami, where she really wanted to go. The Doblers would have made sure she went to college somewhere, even as Conrad's condition and Joy's paralysis had drained their savings. Miami was probably out of the question. Until Mickelson sprouted a pair of figurative wings.

 

"I was probably going to (the University of Kansas)," Holli said this week. "It was just an incredibly generous thing for him to do."

 

Meanwhile, Joy Dobler's story is equally inspirational. When she fell "one foot" from the hammock, she knew she was paralyzed.

 

"I hit the ground at a perfect spot to break my neck," she said. "If I tried a million times to do it, I would not be able to do it" again.

 

The C-5 and C-6 vertebrae had been broken. She was paralyzed from the shoulders down and given less than 1 percent chance of walking or even moving her arms again. Thanks in part to grueling therapy, she has regained use of her hands and movement in her feet. She recently got back her driver's license.

 

"I will dance at Holli's wedding," Joy Dobler said. "I will hold her children."

 

Joy spends most of her time doing charity work and fundraising for spinal cord research. She and Conrad have spent long hours raising money for various things over the years, which makes Mickelson's gift all the more fitting and life-affirming.

 

"When you grow up, you're taught to give. When you get out in the real world, people start taking things from you, including your trust," said Conrad, who still battles the NFL for better pensions and health care benefits for its retired players.

 

"That makes you a very hard person. But then you have someone come along like Phil, it brings back your faith in people."

 

Holli Dobler has two-plus years left at Miami, where she's majoring in English literature and wants to teach. She already has learned an invaluable lesson about giving back quietly.

 

"It's just really nice to see that people care, without worrying about personal gain," she said.

After reading this,if Phil never wins another tournament he has earned my respect by his true dedication to help for the sake of helping.

Go Phil,,get the Tiger.

[jimb]

I like Mickelson and I do think he is generous. Does he have a public relations side to him probably, but who among the elite in any arena doesn't.

 

I am a golf fan and I enjoy watching Mickelson compete, plus I play leftie and am naturally right handed. Phil has never done anything to harm me, so why should I dislike him as a person. He has calmed down on the "go for broke" attitude. Had he used better course management over the years, how many more tournaments might he have already won?

 

So yes, I like to watch him play; he's one of my favorites.

[smarshal75]

I think this type of thread could be posted for any professional athlete. There are always lovers and haters. However, there is one thing that cannot be denied...Phil Mickelson has reached and plays at a level of golf that a very tiny percentage of golfers will ever reach, and of those at that level he is in the top echelon. That said, you have to respect his game, just the same as that of players like Davis Love, Vijay , Ernie Els, Tiger Woods and so forth.

 

I find that many posting in these threads struggle with the professional personality versus the actual skill and ability of their game. We should keep some things in perspective relative to the personality of professional athletes. These guys are under intense pressure, fans constantly want attention, the press wants attention. At some point these guys are burned out. They want the anonymity we all enjoy (even though we don't realize it).

 

Perfect example, I got the opportunity to go to dinner with Nomar Garciaparra and a group of other people. When we walked out of the players tunnel we were mobbed by no less than a 100 people. If he stopped to sign one autograph he would have to sign for everyone; when he says no or stops without signing for everyone...well he gets branded as an A-hole. It just isn't fair.

 

Bottom line...we have to many expectations about how professional athletes should interact with the public, the press, and other professionals.

[Lionstar]

Well said.

[dlygrisse]

I used to mange a restaurant and Arnold Palmer came in for dinner one night with a group of people. I will never forget it. I never saw Arnold stop to sign an autograph but he made eye contact with everyone in the room and when he walkied out the door every single person in the room who cared felf they had a personal experience with him. Arnie is the master, and every single professional athelete in the world should be allowed to spend a day with him to watch him operate.

 

 

 

That being said I like Phil, yes part of his public persona is probably manufatered, but I am sure Arnie had to work on how he handled people as well. The facf is I think Phil cares about what people think of him, but more importantly I think he does a lot for charity behind the scenes that he does not seek publicity for. I heard he is raising money for veterans who return home from Iraq who have lost limbs etc.

 

 

 

Love Phil or hate Phil I think everyone agrees it would be great to see him challenge Tiger in a few majors and maybe finally knock him off once or twice. I dont know if it will happen or not but if it did it could only help the game of golf by brining a buzz to what is going on. Lets face it golf needs to be on ESPN not just the golf channel when it comes to sports coverage. Quite honestly Tiger is so good right now I dont see anyone knocking him off in a head to head dual in a major, but Phil might be the one guy out their who has the balls to do it.

[dlygrisse]

One more thing.......Phil has a beautiful family, tons of money, fame and plays golf for a living, He works when he wants etc, I know money does not buy happiness but if I were him I think I would be smiling a lot too.

 

 

 

If there are guy on tour who dont like him I would have to assume it is nothing but jealousy

[Big Ben]

Interesting opinion; I played in the Nationwide Tour Pro-Am in my town a few years back with a very well known pro who has bounced back and fourth from the tours and he indicated that Phil ia a real S.O.B. Very hard to deal with but once the camera's come on he is as sweet as pie! I guess he was this way in college as well. He always realized that he was the golden boy I guess. On the flip side; in the ouside golf world most find VJ annoying (me included) but I guess he is a really cool guy and very fun to be around. These opinions would be just the opposite from most on the outside right?

[mr ice]

I must say that I have nothing but respect for any player that reaches the PGA tour level. That said are some of the A-holes? Probably but you know if I had 10000 opinions about how I performed at work, looked etc I would probably be an A-hole myself from time to time.

 

I do know a player who played collage golf with Phil and from what I know he was a decent guy.

[theinsider]

Spend some time with him and you will find out that he is just a golf equipment geek like the rest of us...

 

(cool)

[Night train]

It's fascinating that people say Phil needs to step up and show he can beat Tiger in a major. Phil has three majors and Tiger played in every one of them...........don't those count?

 

Maybe people forget Tiger was right on his heels and in the hunt at last years Masters during the final round.........Phil was the guy who won down the stretch while Tiger missed some putts and faltered.

 

I am in no way saying Phil is better than Tiger, but to say he can't win a major with Tiger contending is simply false......it happened last April.

[poppyhillsguy]

I was having drinks with a former tour player who is now a Golf Channel announcer. He said the two people the other players like the most on the tour is Ernie Els and Nick Price. He said the most hated player was Phil Mickelson. He said Phil is a complete phony. How he is in front of the camera and off the camera are two different people. That is why the players don't like him.

 

I have another friend in the media. He said Phil is very condescending to the media.

 

Personally, I appreciate the charitable acts he does (though I wish he would post them on his website) and admire his ability, but I'm not the Phil; fan I used to be.

[The Big Pinch]

First of all I give no credit to opinions that are given anonymously. If you are gonna talk junk about someone put your name on it or zip it. Second the media suck's, for the most part, they accentuate the negative the majority of the time. Phil is good peep's in my opinion. Good family man and generous, plus a great golfer. (cool)

[Johnny]

like him or not... the PGA needs Phil..

 

they need Els,Garcia,Goosen,Furyk,Scott,Singh etc etc.. we need the big names and an occasional challenge to the Tiger. Sure it's fun to watch Tiger run away by 10 strokes from time to time, but it's much nicer watching someone challenge him.

 

If you like Phil fine...if you dont that's fine too. All this.... this person said this and that person said that..it's weak and baseless.

[soberguy16]

Just posted in other thread...I think Phil is a phony, but i still find myself rooting for him because the tour needs someone to rival tiger (not win majors over him though (cool) ). And i do respect his sick talent. Though i have never met him or talked to any tour players or announcers about him, something about him annoys me and inside i just feel he is phony (fake smile, his charitable acts that he "tries to keep from the press" yet still find themselves on his website, etc). Anyways, there seem to be two types of people...people who love phil or hate him...I for one am both

[freddiec]

I really like the guy. I mean I don't know him, but I admire what he's accomplished, off the course and his family. Let's face it, he has it all. Great life, great family. I think he's genuinely the type of guy who has decided to be happy, that's why he smiles. Why shouldn't he. People choose to be happy or miserable in life imo. He's one of the players that makes the game great, unlike people who want to slam their clubs into the ground on national TV. He's going to win a major this year, just wait and see.

[coreyt]

My best friends' sister has a neighbor whose cousin had a bbq and this guy said Phil was...................... Judge the guy by the way he acts, like a good guy. It must be very tough for Phil hide this super secert double personality for all these years and we only hear rumors of how bad he is. By the way the guy at the bbq said Phil was a great guy (cool)

[Big Ben]

Like I said; the tour player I personally played golf and ate dinner with (not rumors buddy!) said he was a big phony and the players did not like him for this exactly as another post indicated. Sorry; not trying to discredit his accomplishments or say he is less of a man just a big fake that's all. Damn good golfer that's for sure!

[rhersch]

Listen.....We would all be smiling if we were PHIL. 30 wins, 3 majors and how could I forget $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. I don't think he cares what other golfers say about him.

[golf1010]

Phil is real,anybody who doesnt like him,give me one reason why,oh he smiles big deal.Id rather see him smiling then VIjay ,love, creamer and most of all pressel with their pout on all day. hes a good guy a great player and nothing but class

[samm980]

Phil is real,anybody who doesnt like him,give me one reason why,oh he smiles big deal.Id rather see him smiling then VIjay ,love, creamer and most of all pressel with their pout on all day. hes a good guy a great player and nothing but class

 

 

Gotta be honest, I can't remember a time where Love has pouted. To me Love just oozes of class and dignity on the golf course.

[golf1010]

whe he said who yelled no love he was pouting then but he is not the biggest primadonna. guys like pernice sergio and countless others really bother me from a arrogant level that phil doesnt have

[coreyt]

"Gotta be honest, I can't remember a time where Love has pouted. To me Love just oozes of class and dignity on the golf course."

 

At the 2002 Ryder Cup, once the Euro's had the points to win Sergio was running down the fairway to a teammate who was playing Love and Love went nuts. He was screaming about how unsportsman like Sergio was acting, but I remeber Love storming the green at Brookline and the outcome was even determined at that point. In both instances the players (Serigo, and most of the US team) was uncalled for, but for Love to scream that his match is still in progress and that Curtis Strange should do something a bit of a double-standarded. After that I lost all respect for Love.

[Noncenx]

I think anyone at his level will have personality quirks that some will love and others hate. Is he a phony, no more so than anyone else who has an agent who scripts their appearances. Yeah, he might be a jerk on the course to others but then it could also be said he was focused on his game, not smooching his partners. And if he puts on a Happy Face for the press then great, at least that shows he isn't stupid or acting like some of the prima donnas you see in other sports.