Think for a moment about Phil Mickelson.
Does he still put a smile on your face?
Or do you wonder how that guy – the one with the eye contact and the smile and the thumbs-up salutes – now finds himself in both personal and professional purgatory?
His victory in the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island less than a year ago seems as if it happened in a different lifetime.
In a sense, maybe it did.
That was Mickelson in all of his majesty, summoning a borderline supernatural performance amid the wind, the sand and Brooks Koepka’s menacing major-championship presence.
Then, whiplash.
It was more than the release two months ago of Mickelson’s raw comments about the PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed golf league he was working with that did him in, but that’s where the arson investigator would start.
The damage has been done through words and deeds.
The question is what Mickelson does now.
In a statement last week, Mickelson’s longtime manager Steve Loy confirmed that the six-time major champion has registered to play in the PGA Championship in three weeks’ time and the U.S. Open in June. Additionally, Mickelson has sought a release from the PGA Tour to play in the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational Series tournament near London in early June. No surprise there.
It may be nothing more than clerical work. Even defending champions have to register to play in the event they won, and had Mickelson let the various registration deadlines pass last week, the answer about what’s next would be marginally clearer because he wouldn’t have spots in those events.
The statement made it clear that no decision has been made about whether Mickelson will play those events or not, though there was video of him playing at his home course near San Diego last week.
Mickelson didn’t play the Masters, which is near and dear to his heart, and whether Mickelson got the message to skip Augusta this year or decided it on his own, he did the right thing.
Before he plays another tournament, Mickelson needs to spend time making it right – with the PGA Tour, the LIV Golf people, his fans and his family. His late February “apology” didn’t indicate much contrition, and some inside the game have suggested he doesn’t feel any contrition.
He can’t just show up at a tournament, say “I screwed up; I’m sorry” and let it go. He’s tarnished goods.
In separate conversations last week, two acquaintances talked about how disappointed they are in Mickelson and how much they would like to have the old Phil back.
Wouldn’t we all?
His friend Jon Rahm spoke up for Mickelson last week, telling Golf Channel, “I don’t think his whole career or whole legacy should change because of a couple of comments.”
Otherwise, it’s been crickets from other players, at least publicly.
This feels sad, even if Mickelson is a victim of his own poor decisions and behavior.
If Mickelson plays the PGA Championship at Southern Hills, what he did a year ago will be lost amid the TMZ-like attention he will receive. The tournament will be overshadowed for all the wrong reasons by the man who won it a year ago.
His fall from grace has been as spectacular as it has been sudden. He’s scarred himself forever, and though scars fade over time, they don’t fully disappear. Mickelson can’t smile his way out of this, and that raises the question of what’s been going on behind the smile.
If you haven’t heard stories, innuendo and rumors about Mickelson recently, then you haven’t been listening.
What’s true and what isn’t?
Two upcoming books – one by writer Alan Shipnuck and another by the gambler Billy Walters – are expected to provide different, revealing perspectives on Mickelson. When the subjects include gambling and potential insider trading, only Mickelson knows how comfortable he can be about those things.
Think back to Kiawah last May and the joy of the moment. It was one of those things no one saw coming, though Mickelson might insist otherwise. That was the beauty of it, the beauty of sports, the way those things can happen and the way they make us feel.
When a man who has made nearly $100 million on the PGA Tour and much more than that away from the golf course talks about someone else’s “obnoxious greed,” it’s beyond tone deaf. It’s not fighting for the other players, it sounds like wanting more for yourself.
The Saudis apparently offered him tens of millions of dollars, and Mickelson managed to mess that up. If he plays the LIV event in England, will he be playing out of obligation or because it’s the only place he can play at the moment?
Or both?
When Mickelson returns to golf, it will be awkward and he will have done it to himself. He’s always liked to be seen as the smartest guy in the room, and we’ve seen how that has worked out.
For Mickelson, the hard part may just be starting.
Top: Phil Mickelson, who hasn't played a PGA Tour event since January, can't just wave his troubles away.
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