New definition for Chicken Sh*t
Phil Mickelson needs to "man up" and face the media and his public
As the PGA Championship is waged this week at Southern Hills in Tulsa, the story line is about the two longtime super stars of golf, one who’s light seems to be shining bright though he’s falling short of winning and the other who now seems to live in a black hole that’s getting deeper and deeper. One is in Tulsa this week; the other is missing in action and will be for the foreseeable future because he thinks he should be a professional golf leader, but few are buying his act.
As we’ve been preached to many times, the first shall be last and the last shall be first, or something like that, so here goes:
It’s time for Phil Mickelson to “man up” and meet his fate, an overdue appointment with the media and his public, and try to get out of the black hole. Earlier this year, with fallout for his praise of the Saudi Crown Prince, Mickelson withdrew from life, hiding in the shadow of Greg Norman and his mega-million-dollar international golf tour in an attempt to blow up the PGA Tour, the growth of which has been the best thing to happen to professional golf.
The PGA Tour has decided not to offer exemptions from its playing rules to allow PGA Tour players to participate in Norman’s Saudi-backed tour. That’s the right way. If the PGA Tour gave just one exemption (permission to play with Norman), then it would have to allow all players the same. If a player wants to buck the system over guaranteed bucks and 54-hole instead of 72-hole events, go right ahead but don’t even think of playing on the PGA Tour again. While the money is great, professional golfers also like to win no matter if it’s a $10 Nassau at home on a Monday or if it’s the John Deere Classic or the or the AT&T Pro-Am on a Sunday.
Back to Mickelson. On the Washington Post website, in the comment section of a story about Mickelson withdrawing from the PGA Championship, his comments about the Saudi Crown Price, and his desire to join Norman, one reader, who was miffed at other comments and wanted to bring everyone to reality, wrote:
What the hell is wrong with you people? You really think that dismembering a journalist, executing gay people, and a general abrogation of human rights should carry more weight than a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape the PGA tour? Have you no conscience?
So, what should Mickelson do? For one, he should be playing this week in the PGA Championship, defending his title of a year ago. He needs to own up in public to his faults such as a huge, reported gambling problem and his comments about the Saudi Crown Prince. Admit he was wrong; admit he needs rehab for gambling; if he wants to push for exemptions to be allowed to play with Norman, ask in public and be gracious and understanding if turned down.
As long as Mickelson stays away, out of the public spotlight, he’ll always be in the spotlight with writers writing about his childish behavior and his former public thinking the same. He’s someplace right now sulking about his decision to skip the Masters and the PGA Championship and he’s trying to come up with a strategy to miss the US Open and The Open. He just needs to go away if he’s not going to play.
The more Mickelson stays away from the PGA Tour and the major tournaments (Masters, PGA Championship, US Open, and The Open), the less relevant he becomes to golf in general, but the more relevant he remains as a subject for golf writers to pursue. He needs to take a page from his nemesis, Tiger Woods.
Woods, through years of taking lumps for transgressions, has once again become a darling of golf, though not for everyone who loves the game. He has worked hard to regain what he lost of his own undoing many years ago and now has a positive relationship with the media which translates to the same with his public. Tiger is in Oklahoma this week. He could win, but probably will not because he still has physical conditions and lack of stamina due to a self-inflicted automobile accident.
Woods played in the Masters this spring and put up a good fight but faded as the numbers of holes he played accumulated. Walking on a bum leg which he nearly lost as a result of the auto mishap did his game no favors but he was in Augusta, answering questions and generating positive media. He’ll do the same—generate positive media—this week at Southern Hills.
Mickelson is also a story line but for not being there and, as his life moves on without the competitive golf generated by the PGA Tour and the major tournaments, Mickelson will fade, thank goodness. He’s lost most of if not all his sponsors which seems not to matter to him. Can he get those back? He probably doesn’t need them except to change his image. What he needs to do is to man up and face the music. Mickelson doesn’t need proxy support from writers and broadcasters who want to defend him. He fell on his own sword and needs to rise on his own.
Phil Mickelson is the definition of “chicken sh*t” for staying away from golf tournaments such as this week’s PGA Championship. He will be that definition until he emerges from hiding, meets with the media, denounces his Saudi feelings, admits to his gambling problem, and plays competitive golf, taking his lumps along the way.
Right now, no one should or is going to beg him to play. The PGA Tour may want him but doesn’t need him; the PGA Tour Champions may want him but doesn’t need him. The major golf tournaments may want him but don’t need him. Greg Norman may want him and can have him. Mickelson could win again in a field of one but that would do nothing for his image or the long road to recovery that’s ahead for him.
How do you feel about Phil Mickelson? Please use the comments section below to voice your opinion.