Oddly enough, their overbearing and presumptuous manner can simultaneously turn them into some of the most off-putting people on the planet and the most admired. A brash Sergio Garcia literally leapt into our collective consciousness at the PGA Championship when he closed his eyes and curved a shot around a tree trunk onto the green. As the ball moved into the air, a jubilant Garcia sprinted wildly, scissor-kicking with delight over the result.
He eventually finished second to Woods in the tournament setting up a potential long-term rivalry between the two. Over the years, Garcia gradually lost favor with fans and competitors alike with his never-ending waggle and unorthodox swing. He annoyingly gripped, released and re-gripped his club as he pondered a shot. While he has since eliminated the habit, he has said unapologetically, "My swing works for me, so why should I change it?
I prefer to have a natural swing and play well rather than a perfect swing and not be able to play good. Although Garcia has been considered a top world golfer, the rivalry with Tiger never really transpired. When he commented that he would serve Tiger Woods fried chicken for dinner at the U.
Open, he leapt into something more undesirable than a waggle. Ironically, Sergio had singled out Tiger as arrogant and aloof. Yet, it takes a pretty self-consumed guy to think he can get away with making thoughtless statements in an effort to be funny. It could just be a case of jealousy, but Phil Mickelson , great golfer, great family man, great signer of autographs, has actually been called an arrogant phony at times. There are a lot of anonymous comments about Mickelson but his public record seems to fly in the face of them.
His personal fight with an arthritic condition and his public show of love for his wife who battled breast cancer has endeared him to the public. It has been a common theme. Pierzynski, who lives to be hated. Phil Mickelson was No.
But when you read the actual story you find … there was no reason there. There were a couple of anonymous reporters saying that he had no friends on Tour. And, I have found, that has been a constant theme. A lot of people I know despise Phil Mickelson. But when I ask WHY they despise him, they tend to speak in vague generalities and blurry images. And, when I ask for examples, they might talk about one of his few public missteps like the time earlier this year he spoke out about taxes or his out-there hair or the walk he walks or offer a nebulous story about this one time he sort of said something kind of irritating.
In , he blew the U. Open at Winged Foot. It was really that simple. He came to the 18 th hole needing a par, and then after he hit a driver off a tent, his second shot hit a tree. His third splashed into a bunker. His double bogey lost the tournament. After it ended, Mickelson did what few have ever done.
He went out in front of the fans and publicly apologized for playing the way he did. Then he went in front of the assembled media and emotionally apologized again. Now, how does the story make you feel? Do you like the guy at the heart of it? Do you think him honest and forthright and all too human?
Or do you find the whole thing kind of calculated? Mickelson has never won the U. Open, but he has finished second five times. In , at Pinehurst, he was simply beaten down the stretch by a whirlwind named Payne Stewart, who one-putted five of the last seven holes to beat Mickelson by a shot.
In , at Shinnecock Hills, Mickelson beat himself. He led by a shot going into the 17 th , and the moment overwhelmed him. He plunked the ball in the bunker, slashed out to 8 feet, missed the par putt and then missed the comeback bogey putt. In , back at Bethpage Black, Mickelson was deeply distracted because Amy had just been diagnosed with cancer.
End of story. It ended hopes for the U. In the news conference afterward, with the entire U. Mahan was a wreck, near tears. To the rescue came Mickelson, along with Stewart Cink. I screwed up too, Mickelson said. The anti-Phil group is a minority. But it is vocal and determined. He is not St. Nor is he Attila the Hun. Bill Dwyre was a three-times-weekly sports columnist for the Los Angeles Times from Before that, he was sports editor of the paper for 25 years.
He was sports editor of the Milwaukee Journal from to , when he joined The Times. Dwyre was named National Headliner Award winner in , sportswriter of the year in Wisconsin in and sportswriter of the year in California in Clippers rally from point deficit to beat Heat and extend win streak.
NFL: Dolphins wins second straight, stun Ravens. He annoys everybody. In , when he nearly won the U. Open, Mickelson wore a beeper onto the fairway to alert him when his wife went into labor.
If the beeper went off during the nal round, he announced, he would simply walk off the course. Woods was infuriated. Shortly before the 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.
Words like fumigate come up when people try to explain why GMs trade him. He helped bring Hubie down.
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