Is Phil Mickelson Golf's Version of Gordon Gekko?

[Golf2Much]

Phil Mickelson is quoted to say that the PGA's "obnoxious greed" is forcing him to look at other places to play like the proposed Saudi Arabia-backed Super Golf League.  Let's see how Phil's $92M career PGA earnings (not counting the estimated $800M total earnings) stacks up against others.

In PGA career earnings, Phil has made three times more than the following players did in their careers:  Tom Watson ($11.1M), Jack Nicklaus ($5.7M), Arnold Palmer ($3.7M), Lee Travino ($3.5M), Tom Weiskopf ($2.2M), Gary Player ($1.8M), Don January ($1.1M),, Chi Chi Rodriquez ($1.0M) and Lee Elder ($1.0M).  Together, they accounted for 50 golf Majors to Phil's 6.

Phil has also made as much as Fred Couples ($22.8M), David Duval ($19M), Greg Norman ($14.5M), Mark O'Meara ($14.3M), Tom Kite ($11.0M) and John Daly ($10.2M) combined.

Yes, I understand that golf is different today than both sets of players I highlighted.  Phil Mickelson obviously is a talented Hall of Fame golfer that has taken advantage of the changing financial aspects of the game (thanks to Tiger).  But ultimately who pays for what some might view as inflated purses player receive today?  Directly or indirectly, we as consumers do.  Tournament sponsors funds and television commercials have to be budgeted as an expense from their business operations.  The gates are typically donated to local charities. 

Unfortunately (right or wrong), there's a perception that golf is somewhat of an elitist game.   It's comments like Phil's that supports that elitist and arrogant general public perception. If you start to alienate average golfers, other casual golf consumers and ultimately golf sponsors' company shareholders with talk like this, the golf golden goose may start to tarnish ultimately risking the current financial model.  Golf does not need a Gordon Gekko "greed is good" character.  Phil, how about focusing on giving back to the sport that gave you a career and life that you likely would not have without golf?

[null]

Phil has always been out for himself. He’s a politician that always leaned into his phony “man of the people” vibe. 
 

FIGJAM is finally exposing himself for what he’s always been 

[GolfSpy AFG]

I agree, he came across as quite the ass to me.  The tour provided the medium through which he gained fame and fortune…talk about biting the hand that fed you…

[Tyler86]

I see all the boys are playing in Saudi right now and not pebble….. so not just Phil.

[Gusset]

I read an article that had much of his comments, and after "learning" what was there to glean, it's clear to me that there are a lot of factors I'm not up on. It sounds like the sort of thing that would probably make decent sense if I were immersed in it. I have to give the benefit of the doubt that he's not just interested in lining his own pockets.

Whether he's a greedy jerk or whether he is speaking out for more than just his own interests, when Phil talks, he's heard more than a lot of golfers. If it's actually a thing worth standing up and talking about, would anyone listen to someone who hasn't been successful? If barely-keeping-my-card tour player Fred Furdledurk said the same thing, would anyone take note, or would there just be a flood of comments like, "Hey, loser, if you want more money, be a better golfer"?

[RickyBobby_PR]

At this point in Phil’s career his ability to stay competitive on the PGA tour is dropping by the week

Outisde of his miraculous win at the pga where he caught lightning in a bottle for that week he rarely finished in the top 25 and missed 9 cuts out of 23 events. He finished outside the top 50 almost every week.

His best bet is to take the money from the new league and ride his name as long as he can. 

[Golfnerd]

20 minutes ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

At this point in Phil’s career his ability to stay competitive on the PGA tour is dropping by the week

Outisde of his miraculous win at the pga where he caught lightning in a bottle for that week he rarely finished in the top 25 and missed 9 cuts out of 23 events. He finished outside the top 50 almost every week.

His best bet is to take the money from the new league and ride his name as long as he can. 

you mean the same as tiger should do?

[RickyBobby_PR]

1 hour ago, Golfnerd said:

you mean the same as tiger should do?

I think tiger is a different situation from Phil. I don’t see tiger playing on the champions tour or traveling overseas for extended periods of time to play. His focus is more on family and with his kids especially his son active in sports I doubt he is going to sacrifice attending their events to play overseas just because there’s a large some of money. 

[null]

2 hours ago, Golfnerd said:

you mean the same as tiger should do?

Tiger doesn't care about the money.

In fact, Tiger has already came out and pledged his loyalty to the PGA Tour

Quote

With rumors swirling about rival leagues to the PGA Tour, Woods said Tuesday that players will have to make personal decisions but that he will continue to support the PGA Tour.

“That’s where my legacy is,” Woods said.

https://www.golfchannel.com/news/tiger-woods-supports-pga-tour-moving-forward-thats-where-my-legacy

[Golfnerd]

29 minutes ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

I think tiger is a different situation from Phil. I don’t see tiger playing on the champions tour or traveling overseas for extended periods of time to play. His focus is more on family and with his kids especially his son active in sports I doubt he is going to sacrifice attending their events to play overseas just because there’s a large some of money. 

 

8 minutes ago, jlukes said:

Tiger doesn't care about the money.

In fact, Tiger has already came out and pledged his loyalty to the PGA Tour

https://www.golfchannel.com/news/tiger-woods-supports-pga-tour-moving-forward-thats-where-my-legacy

my comment towards catching lightning in a bottle not towards him jumping ship.  "Outisde of his miraculous win at the pga where he caught lightning in a bottle for that week he rarely finished in the top 25 and missed 9 cuts out of 23 events. He finished outside the top 50 almost every week."  i was commenting or referencing this comment.  take out phil's name and add in tiger's and we have the same thing basically

[null]

1 minute ago, Golfnerd said:

 

my comment towards catching lightning in a bottle not towards him jumping ship.  "Outisde of his miraculous win at the pga where he caught lightning in a bottle for that week he rarely finished in the top 25 and missed 9 cuts out of 23 events. He finished outside the top 50 almost every week."  i was commenting or referencing this comment.  take out phil's name and add in tiger's and we have the same thing basically

Except Tiger isn't about the money.  Phil is and always has been.

 

[RickyBobby_PR]

7 minutes ago, Golfnerd said:

 

my comment towards catching lightning in a bottle not towards him jumping ship.  "Outisde of his miraculous win at the pga where he caught lightning in a bottle for that week he rarely finished in the top 25 and missed 9 cuts out of 23 events. He finished outside the top 50 almost every week."  i was commenting or referencing this comment.  take out phil's name and add in tiger's and we have the same thing basically

Tiger has played a limited schedule over the last several years and in those events he’s faired slightly better than Phil overall.

Tiger and Phil have two different agendas and that’s always been the case. The money came to tiger because of who he is and everyone has benefitted from that. He has been focused on achievements in the game and Phil has been Phil and is all about the cash and not so much about achievements otherwise he would have adapted his game to win more majors and big events.

Comparing  apples and oranges. 

[Golfnerd]

8 minutes ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

Tiger has played a limited schedule over the last several years and in those events he’s faired slightly better than Phil overall.

Tiger and Phil have two different agendas and that’s always been the case. The money came to tiger because of who he is and everyone has benefitted from that. He has been focused on achievements in the game and Phil has been Phil and is all about the cash and not so much about achievements otherwise he would have adapted his game to win more majors and big events.

Comparing  apples and oranges. 

only comparing performances nothing else.....nothing to do with money or allegiance to the pga

[fixyurdivot]

 

On 2/3/2022 at 2:43 PM, Golf2Much said:

Phil Mickelson is quoted to say that the PGA's "obnoxious greed" is forcing him to look at other places to play like the proposed Saudi Arabia-backed Super Golf League.  Let's see how Phil's $92M career PGA earnings (not counting the estimated $800M total earnings) stacks up against others.

In PGA career earnings, Phil has made three times more than the following players did in their careers:  Tom Watson ($11.1M), Jack Nicklaus ($5.7M), Arnold Palmer ($3.7M), Lee Travino ($3.5M), Tom Weiskopf ($2.2M), Gary Player ($1.8M), Don January ($1.1M),, Chi Chi Rodriquez ($1.0M) and Lee Elder ($1.0M).  Together, they accounted for 50 golf Majors to Phil's 6.

Phil has also made as much as Fred Couples ($22.8M), David Duval ($19M), Greg Norman ($14.5M), Mark O'Meara ($14.3M), Tom Kite ($11.0M) and John Daly ($10.2M) combined.

Yes, I understand that golf is different today than both sets of players I highlighted.  Phil Mickelson obviously is a talented Hall of Fame golfer that has taken advantage of the changing financial aspects of the game (thanks to Tiger).  But ultimately who pays for what some might view as inflated purses player receive today?  Directly or indirectly, we as consumers do.  Tournament sponsors funds and television commercials have to be budgeted as an expense from their business operations.  The gates are typically donated to local charities. 

Unfortunately (right or wrong), there's a perception that golf is somewhat of an elitist game.   It's comments like Phil's that supports that elitist and arrogant general public perception. If you start to alienate average golfers, other casual golf consumers and ultimately golf sponsors' company shareholders with talk like this, the golf golden goose may start to tarnish ultimately risking the current financial model.  Golf does not need a Gordon Gekko "greed is good" character.  Phil, how about focusing on giving back to the sport that gave you a career and life that you likely would not have without golf?

I'm not sure about him being golfs Gordon Gekko but I've been wondering about who of the PGA's most iconic players will be the first to jump ship... and Phil has been among the top of my list. Norman and the investment group are no doubt trying to lure the right combination of seed players that they hope will start a following.  Let's face it, Phil's BIG earning days (as you detail) are behind him.  Grabbing a HUGE payout from the World/Global/whatever Tour and playing what amounts to Champions Tour format events would be his most lucrative move.  I wouldn't think any less of him or any of the PGA players for making such a business decision.  

As for the loyalty to the PGA, that ship has long sailed in professional (and more recently college) sports.  Pro golfers are a commodity and like NFL, MLB, and NBA players for sale to the highest bidder.

[null]

7 hours ago, fixyurdivot said:

 

I'm not sure about him being golfs Gordon Gekko but I've been wondering about who of the PGA's most iconic players will be the first to jump ship... and Phil has been among the top of my list. Norman and the investment group are no doubt trying to lure the right combination of seed players that they hope will start a following.  Let's face it, Phil's BIG earning days (as you detail) are behind him.  Grabbing a HUGE payout from the World/Global/whatever Tour and playing what amounts to Champions Tour format events would be his most lucrative move.  I wouldn't think any less of him or any of the PGA players for making such a business decision.  

As for the loyalty to the PGA, that ship has long sailed in professional (and more recently college) sports.  Pro golfers are a commodity and like NFL, MLB, and NBA players for sale to the highest bidder.

Not thinking less of him for taking the money. Thinking a lot less of anybody who takes the money because of who is giving them the money. 

[Headhammer]

I like, and have always liked Phil, partly because he is never afraid to speak his mind and doesn't give us the standard sports cliches in interviews. Does he come off sounding like an obtuse, rich jerk here? Sure he does! This is no different than the current baseball labor negotiations where multi-millionaires are fighting with billionaires when the average American can barely afford season tickets to put money in both their coffers. I'm pretty sure all of us could live quite comfortably on Phils current net worth of half a billion dollars, but as the golf world has always said ""that's just Phil being Phil."

[Middler]

On 2/3/2022 at 4:55 PM, jlukes said:

Phil has always been out for himself. He’s a politician that always leaned into his phony “man of the people” vibe. 

+1. He’s played the PR game well all along.

[fixyurdivot]

3 hours ago, jlukes said:

Not thinking less of him for taking the money. Thinking a lot less of anybody who takes the money because of who is giving them the money. 

Using poor human rights record as a measure, I see your point.  But let's not lose sight of the fact that a tidy portion of Tigers wealth came by way of Nike.  The "dirty money" runs far and wide.  Perhaps if the new tour takes hold, it will put the primary backers under the spotlight and, much like Nike, be the catalyst for positive changes.

[cnosil]

Maybe I am misinterpreting Phil's statements but the point of the articles is that the PGA tour is capitalizing off images and videos that they have of him and charge for their use by other companies and the player themselves.    Sure Phil has made over $92 million dollars, but is that really relevant to the point that he is trying to make?   Kind of sounds like the exact argument that college athletes are making and are now getting paid for the use of their likenesses.   should it matter if a player is worth $10K or $10M?

 

[null]

4 minutes ago, cnosil said:

Maybe I am misinterpreting Phil's statements but the point of the articles is that the PGA tour is capitalizing off images and videos that they have of him and charge for their use by other companies and the player themselves.    Sure Phil has made over $92 million dollars, but is that really relevant to the point that he is trying to make?   Kind of sounds like the exact argument that college athletes are making and are now getting paid for the use of their likenesses.   should it matter if a player is worth $10K or $10M?

 

It’s not like phil has been prevented from using his own likeness for getting sponsorships and marketing deals

[cnosil]

2 minutes ago, jlukes said:

It’s not like phil has been prevented from using his own likeness for getting sponsorships and marketing deals

Fair point,  but he has to create his own content.  He cannot use any video or images from tournaments unless he pays for it.  

[RickyBobby_PR]

1 hour ago, cnosil said:

Fair point,  but he has to create his own content.  He cannot use any video or images from tournaments unless he pays for it.  

And he knew all that when he chose to play on tour. This is Phil being Phil. 

[Siamese Moose]

Exactly who is Phil claiming is being greedy? It doesn't get mentioned much any more, but in the past the PGA Tour made a big deal out of the fact that the Tour is owned by the players, and run for the benefit of the players. If the Tour is "being greedy", is his complaint that he isn't get a bigger piece of the pie? Every sport controls it's own media rights: "This production is the property of xxxx, and no rebroadcast or other use of the sights, sounds, and descriptions of this game can be used without the expressed written consent..." College players can now get NIL rights, but they can't use game footage without permission. Players on any team in any sport can't appear in uniform for an endorsement without permission of the team. Where is golf different? I don't know the details of Phil's complaint, and I certainly don't understand all of the legal issues involved, but I'm following this out of curiosity to learn. At the moment, for me at least, the optics for Phil are bad.

[Shapotomous]

3 hours ago, cnosil said:

Fair point,  but he has to create his own content.  He cannot use any video or images from tournaments unless he pays for it.  

And apparently he had to pay the PGA Tour rights to televise a non PGA Tour event if I understand his version of the $$ paid for those exhibitions.  I wonder if the 4 majors have to pay the PGA tour broadcast rights as well?  None of those are run by the PGA Tour.  

[fixyurdivot]

7 hours ago, cnosil said:

Maybe I am misinterpreting Phil's statements but the point of the articles is that the PGA tour is capitalizing off images and videos that they have of him and charge for their use by other companies and the player themselves.    Sure Phil has made over $92 million dollars, but is that really relevant to the point that he is trying to make?   Kind of sounds like the exact argument that college athletes are making and are now getting paid for the use of their likenesses.   should it matter if a player is worth $10K or $10M?

 

I think that is exactly what Phil is saying and I have no doubt many others are thinking.  The NCAA ruling has opened Pandora's Box so to speak.  It won't do Phil much good since 99% of his glory moments captured on film are behind him. But, maybe the younger tour players are thinking about this profit opportunity as their career run gets going? This might be something the Norman/LIV Group is looking at as an incentive... and something the PGA might have to re-negotiate to keep players from leaving.

[LICC]

On 2/5/2022 at 12:58 PM, RickyBobby_PR said:

And he knew all that when he chose to play on tour. This is Phil being Phil. 

Agree. Phil is being an idiot. He can hire his own broadcast team to film him playing his own matches and events if he wants, and he can use those videos. But the PGA Tour organizes its events and owns the media rights to broadcasts of its events. I've lost a lot of respect for Phil with this.

[BostonSal]

Michelson want to make money, which is fine, but he talks much too much about it.

He showed his true colors a few years back whan he was complaining about taxes.

You can do that in Middle America and the south, perhaps.  The culture allows for it there.

Do it on the two coasts, however, and you're going to turn off a lot of urban people.

Like me, for example.

 

Everything about Michelson except his mouth indicates that he should have been an even more popular figure than he actually has been.

He's got the look, the game, and for the most part, the personality.

He needed to keep some things to to himself.  

[Tyler86]

4 hours ago, LICC said:

Agree. Phil is being an idiot. He can hire his own broadcast team to film him playing his own matches and events if he wants, and he can use those videos. But the PGA Tour organizes its events and owns the media rights to broadcasts of its events. I've lost a lot of respect for Phil with this.

Is this true? For sure? Has anyone told Phil this??? 

Edited February 7, 2022 by Tyler86

[fixyurdivot]

Phil's latest statements are coming across pretty bad... even to this Phil fan.

[LICC]

On 2/17/2022 at 3:28 PM, fixyurdivot said:

Phil's latest statements are coming across pretty bad... even to this Phil fan.

Agree. The worst is not his criticism of the PGA Tour, but the comments that came out from Shipnuck about knowing how horrible are the Saudis but still being ok taking the money.

His statement yesterday just made things worse. This is not about golf needing change. This is about Phil selling out to make even more money.