Larry Brown Sports

Phil Mickelson is generally regarded as one of the more polite and soft-spoken people in sports. Despite the fact that he makes around $60 million a year through tournaments and endorsements, Phil comes across as a pretty humble guy. That doesn’t mean he’s immune to getting frustrated with reporters who ask useless questions.

During the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill on Thursday, Mickelson was speaking with a reporter from the Golf Channel about being asked dumb questions. He said the most useless question he was ever asked was if he was looking forward to Augusta.

Since Phil has had some of the most exciting moments in his career at The Masters, which happens to be the most important golf event of the calendar year, the question can be seen as a waste of time. Clearly that’s exactly how Mickelson viewed it.

Video via Game On!

Phil Mickelson slipped and fell on his backside while trying to locate a ball at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am Saturday.

Mickelson was looking for a tee shot on the part-5 18th hole when he slipped on the rocks and had an embarrassing moment. Lefty took a triple bogey on the hole, including two penalty shots, which moved him further away from contention.

Mickelson had a tougher time on Saturday compared to his previous two rounds. He shot a 1-over 73 after going three under Thursday and one under Friday, making him one under for the tournament.

Pebble Beach is one of the most scenic golf courses in the world, but there are a few hazards to playing so close to the coast. Mickelson knows that all too well.

Video via The Big Lead, GIF via CBS Sports

Phil Mickelson tied a course record at TPC Scottsdale with a career-low round on Thursday, but he was just a centimeter or less away from posting an even more spectacular score.

Mickelson was putting on hole No. 9 – his final hole — for what would have been just the sixth 59 in PGA Tour history. The ball rolled toward the hole and lipped out, leaving Mickelson in disbelief.

He still had an easy putt to finish his round and ended with an 11-under 60, which was good enough to give him the first-round lead at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

“You don’t have chances to shoot 59 often,” Mickelson said. “To have that putt on line I’m kind of mortified that it didn’t go in.”

The heartbreak of the putt was best embodied by Mickelson’s caddie, Bones McKay, bent over on the ground in disappointment.

Mickelson’s 60 tied the course record, which he set in 2005.

H/T Devil Ball Golf

Slowly but surely, Tiger Woods is rediscovering his stroke. Fortunately for Tiger, he was only in his mid-30s when his life came crashing down around him. In terms of golf, that is very young. His game has been in shambles for the past two years, but Tiger has recently started showing signs of his old self. He came in second at the Honda Classic last weekend after shooting a 62 on Sunday — the best single round of his career. Ernie Els declared that Tiger was “back” after the fantastic finish, but Phil Mickelson is not ready to make that declaration just yet.

“Yeah, obviously he (Els) was paying attention a couple of weeks ago, which is nice to see,” Mickelson said sarcastically when asked about Els’ comments, according to the NY Daily News.

“At least I thought it was funny,” he said after the reporters stopped laughing.

Mickelson was referring to his win at Pebble Beach a little over two weeks ago, when Woods was in the hunt on Sunday but Phil put together an amazing round and shot 11 strokes better than Tiger. That Tiger was the new Tiger — the one that folds under pressure. We saw the old Tiger on Sunday at the Honda Classic, but it might be safer to wait until the new Tiger sticks around for a while before declaring that he’s “back.”

As for why Phil felt the need to take a shot at Tiger, it may be because Woods reportedly stood him up earlier this week when the two were supposed to play a practice round together at Augusta.

“I guess it was the intimidation,” Mickelson joked according to Eye on Golf.

We’re glad Woods stood him up. Tiger and Phil as friends? What fun would that be?

H/T Game On!

Phil Mickelson hit an errant tee shot on the Par-4 15th hole of the Northern Trust Open in Los Angeles Saturday that actually ended up in a spectator’s shorts. Yes, the ball literally ended up stuck in a fan’s shorts.

Mickelson sliced his tee shot into the gallery and somehow the ball ended up in the hem of the fan’s shorts. Mickelson saw the fan lying on his back and feared the worst, but the fan hadn’t moved because the ball was still in his clothing.

“I thought I had taken him out,” Mickelson said. “It wouldn’t have been the first time.”

Mickelson took a drop and managed a par on the hole. He finished the third round of the tournament with a 1-under 70 and entered the final round tied for the lead with Keegan Bradley.

What was great was the way Lefty immediately handed over a personalized autographed glove to apologize. Not only did the fan get quite the memento, but he also has a great story to share with his friends.

Phil Mickelson is one of many golfers playing the Deutsche Bank Championship this weekend. The tournament takes place in Norton, Mass. not too far from Fenway Park. Mickelson decided to pop on over to the ballpark Thursday night and took batting practice before the game. Let’s just say it’s a good thing his golf swing brings in the millions:

Not the prettiest of swings, but at least he got some distance on it. Larry Fitzgerald could take a cue.

It’s been a long time since we got to talk about Tiger Woods in strictly a golf sense. Usually it’s been about another mistress coming out or some fan heckling, but now we’re actually focusing strictly on Tiger’s golf game.

Tiger was nothing short of brutal this past weekend at the Bridgestone Invitational. Even more surprising about Tiger’s poor showing is that he had won at Firestone seven times including his last four tournaments there. Yet Tiger shot a 77 on Sunday giving him a career-worst score in any PGA Tour event he had ever played. The Tige was frustrated, mentally drained, and defeated. He gave away strokes and looked like he couldn’t get out of Akron fast enough. He was unlike we had ever seen him before. But despite Tiger’s second-to-last performance at the Bridgestone, he’ll remain as the number one ranked golfer on tour.

Phil Mickelson had a golden chance to take over the top ranking in the world. Had Tiger finished 44th or lower (he finished 78th!), all Phil had to do was finish in the top four to take over the number one spot. Phil entered the final round at -5 and only four shots back of leader Ryan Palmer. Mickelson completely bombed on Sunday, going eight over for a 78 — one shot worse than Tiger — to drop 30 spots on the leaderboard into a tie for 46th. Phil will have another shot at taking over the top spot at the PGA Championship, but he can’t choke like this if he wants to unseat Tiger who has been number one since 2005. It was a beautiful opportunity missed for Mickelson.

Photo Credit: Andy Lyons/Getty Images