Phil-Mickelson

About Christopher Diaz

Christopher Diaz

Christopher is an avid golfer who calls Miami home. As a Phil Mickelson fan, he set up this website as an informational portal for all other fans of "Lefty." He also occasionally reviews equipment and golf training programs, but admits he'd rather be on the course than anywhere.

Here are my most recent posts

by Christopher Diaz

How Much Money is Arnold Palmer Worth?

The name Arnold Palmer is one of the most iconic in the entire sports world.  Even after his passing in 2016, his brand continued to amass a fortune which led Arnold Palmer’s net worth to a figure most of us just can’t comprehend.  “The King” won 62 PGA Tour events, featuring four wins at The Masters, and is a Hall of Fame golfer.

How Much Money Did Arnold Palmer Make?

There are many reports out there, but the one that caught my eye was this report stating that his estate was worth an estimated $875 million.  The only person in his orbit from the golf world is the wealth of Tiger Woods, who is still out there earning and holding a massive amount of money, even despite a very public, expensive divorce.

The best part about Arnold Palmer was that his legacy consists of being a great golfer, but additionally he’s just a tremendous human being.  He was very involved with sports marketing, and helped found The Golf Channel, something that has brought a lot of new eyeballs on the sport and really garnered new viewers as well as servicing golf nuts across the globe with content.  Palmer also designed over 300 golf courses across the world, and used his name in deals to do beverages, apparel, and other items.

While he played golf before the prize pools started to become incredibly lucrative, he amassed $3.6 million in earnings on the PGA Tour and Champions Tour, but thankfully for him, he had an incredible nose for business and used his name to earn endorsements, guest appearances, and licensing to achieve a crazy amount of wealth.  If you adjust his earnings for inflation, his estate would be $1.4 billion!

His estate made over $40 million in the 12 months after his death in 2016.  His brand, like the Jordan Brand, is eternally earning respect and worth something.  

Out of celebrities who have passed away, only Michael Jackson has earned more money.  That, to me, shows you how big the Arnold Palmer brand is.

Arnold Palmer Golf Apparel

A lot of the income comes from over 400 stores that sell his branded apparel in Asia.  Other markets are on the radar over there, such as Vietnam, and Thailand.  There are agreements with 39 licensees with the estate of Arnold Palmer.

Arnold Palmer Beverages

Of course, many people know of the famous Arnold Palmer drink, which is a concoction of ice tea and lemonade.  This officially launched in 2001, and AriZona Beverages made 500 million cans of this drink just last year, focusing on the 13 to 35 year olds who drink this refreshing beverage.  It’s also said that the Palmer name is often thought of by associating it to the drink, and not his play on the golf course.  (Mostly because he was before most people’s time.)

MillerCoors now offers a spiked version of this beverage.  

Arnold Palmer’s net worth of his estate continues to grow, thanks to deals with MasterCard and Rolex as well.  It’s amazing what his brand was able to do over the years, and even more impressive as to what it continues to produce for the late, great golf icon.

by Christopher Diaz

Coronavirus Impact on the Game of Golf

This nasty pandemic that’s changing how we are doing things across the world is certainly having an impact on the game of golf.  While early on in the pandemic, golfers were taking to local golf courses to get away and practice social distancing, it’s quite the opposite now that most of the USA is in a situation where only essential businesses are open.  In reaction to an article I read in the NY Times, I’m going to share my view on the way the COVID-19 is impacting the game of golf.

How is Golf Being Affected by the Coronavirus?

According to the article, penned by Bill Pennington, golf seemed like a safe bet a week ago (time of publication was March 24, yesterday), with over 6,500 rounds of golf recorded in New Jersey’s Somerset County prior to March 19th.  This number represents a 300% increase over all rounds played in March the year prior, and with only a 19 day sample size.  Pennington went on to write that a similar surge was recorded in other areas of the US, with golfers practicing social distancing and enjoying fresh air.

Of course, last weekend saw a large shutdown nationally which closed “non essential” businesses.  Even in Somerset County, where there are closed golf courses owned by the nation’s President, Donald Trump. While there do indeed exist some golf courses that remain open throughout this ordeal, the majority are closed or are on the verge of closing.

When courses were open, there were measures taken to stop the spread of germs.  This pic, courtesy of the NY Times, is one such example:

coronavirus golf

The article also talks about Fort Myers, just 100 miles west of me here in South Florida, which is a popular golf destination and also home to the Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox Spring Training homes.  Many tourists and fans flock to the Gulf Coast town and watch their team get ready for the season while enjoying one of the many golf courses offered in the area.

Many retirees continue to play golf over there, although the tourism has basically stopped, as have the Spring Training festivities.  All major sports, including The Masters, are postponed until further notice.  There are many cases of the coronavirus coming to the media in forms of popular athletes, and just last night, the Mother of Minnesota Timberwolves player Karl Anthony Towns was said to be in an induced coma from the virus.

The article also touched on the general attitude of golfers, saying that they complained less.  (I assume they took more mulligans as well and gave each other some very liberal putts!)

Golf Events Affected by Coronavirus

PGA TOUR

The below events are officially Canceled

Players Championship (March 12-15)
Valspar Championship (March 19-22)
WGC-Dell Match Play (March 25-29)
Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship (March 26-29)
Valero Texas Open (April 2-5)
RBC Heritage (April 16-19)
Zurich Classic of New Orleans (April 23-26)
Wells Fargo Championship (April 30-May 3)
AT&T Byron Nelson (May 7-10)

Postponed

Masters (April 9-12)
PGA Championship (May 14-17)

The US Open is in serious jeopardy.  (Source.)

Nobody can predict how long this will last, or when golf courses will be back open.  Here’s to it being sooner, rather than later.

by Christopher Diaz

Phil Mickelson to Be Official Host of PGA Tour Event

The golf tournament formerly known as the Bob Hope Classic has a future, thanks to American Express taking the lead with a sponsorship deal set to run for multiple years, in a deal done earlier this Fall.  This was all reported by Golf Digest.  With the event rumored to be falling off the map of the PGA Tour, there’s even more reason to be excited about it being around thanks to Phil Mickelson’s involvement as the official host starting in the year 2020.

The American Express Golf Tournament Signs Phil Mickelson to Host

American Express Golf

The 49 year old golfer, and namesake of this fan blog, has been an ambassador of the event in the past, and now he will be front and center instead of working behind the scenes.  Mickelson has been the champion of this tournament twice and also finished second last year in the same event, then called the Desert Classic.  He also owns a property in the Madison Club in La Quinta, where it will be played.

It’s always been an important part of my life. I would come out here and play junior tournaments here

-Phil Mickelson

he continued….

I’ve always been passionate about here, and I love the tournament itself. But more than that, this tournament has meant historically a lot to this area, and I want to bring back the vision of Bob Hope.

-Phil Mickelson

Featuring 156 PGA Tour professionals as well as some amateurs participating at three different courses in La Quinta, the American Express will have a huge $6.7 million purse, which is up from last years purse by $800,000.  With Mickelson on board now, the tournament will focus on getting more depth, something that has been difficult over the last few events.

With perfect weather, a large purse, and a head start on 2020, I don’t see why any golfers would avoid this event!

After falling out of the top 50 golfers in the world for the first time in 26 years, Phil is looking for his new diet and workout regimen to help him on tour now that he is looking at turning 50.

Last year, Adam Long won the event.  This years American Express will start on January 16, 2020.  It’s also been rumored that they will feature musical acts by country music star Luke Bryan, and Rock N Roll legend Stevie Nicks.  For more information, visit:  https://www.theamexgolf.com/.  

by Christopher Diaz

Phil Mickelson Starts Fasting to Hopefully Improve Play

Our man Phil Mickelson has taken a drastic measure to help improve his play, which has been down lately.  He’s been fasting, according to an ESPN article published this morning.

Mickelson Loses 15 Pounds by Fasting

The fast was for six full days, and he lost a whopping 15 pounds during this fast.  He had been playing poorly since winning the AT & T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am earlier in 2019, and has missed cuts in four of his last six entries, which is highly uncharacteristic for the golf legend.

Here’s a photo screen shot of a video he uploaded to his Twitter channel where he talked about all of it.

Phil Mickelson Fast
Phil has noticeably lost weight in his core.

“The last 10 days I’ve done what I call a hard reset to change and try and make things better,” said Mickelson in a video he posted on Twitter.

The 49 year old golfer dropped the extra weight by drinking exclusively water and a special coffee blend, and also doing a retreat.

Here’s to hoping the fast works, and the good old Lefty is back and better than ever in his next events. Phil, we’re rooting for you!

by Christopher Diaz

Phil Mickelson Denies Involvement in College Admissions Scandal

There has been a lot of news this week about the college admission scandal that has embroiled over 50 parents, including a few celebrities (such as Full House star Lori Loughlin and actress Felicity Huffman) who allegedly committed fraud to get their children enrolled in the college of their choice.

Allegations of the fraud include payment of bribes to cheat on proctored exams such as the SAT and ACT, as well as creating phony athlete profiles and bribing college coaches to get their kids enrolled as athletic recruits.

Mickelson Used Rick Singer’s Services

The ringleader of this whole scam is a man by the name of Rick Singer, who ran a for-profit college admissions business and used it to funnel money from the parents to the test proctors and coaches to make the enrollment happen. When it seemed like we had heard all of the celebrity names tied to Singer earlier in the week, more names have been linked to him, including Phil Mickelson.

After completing his round at The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass on Thursday, Mickelson was met with the expected questioning regarding his relationship with Singer, and had this to say to the assemblage of reporters (as reported on golf.com):

“We, along with thousands of other families, hired he and his company to help us guide through the college application process. We’re probably more shocked than anyone and we’ve been dealing with it the last few days, but that’s about it.”

Following his meeting the media, he also posted this message on his Twitter account:

 

Our Reaction

Is Phil Mickelson guilty of bribing college admissions?
Photo Credit: Yahoo! Sports

Obviously, this is a fan site of the legend Phil Mickelson and we think this is all a bunch of bull. He has a wonderful family and talented, hard-working kids. By his own admission, he is a proud dad of how gifted and well-developed his children are. They have good grades, numerous extracurricular activities, and worldly views that have colleges fighting to get them as students.

We believe that Mickelson used Singer’s services like thousands of other parents, just (as he claimed) as a way to help them navigate the college admissions process. He has used Singer’s company for three years (he currently has a daughter who is a sophomore at Brown University) and got to know the tutors and administrative staff that got dozens of colleges on their radar and helped navigate through the confusing process.

We know a lot of people will look at this case with a bit of skepticism, as they are clouded by the stigma of his insider trading activity in the past. Let us remind you, he was cleared of any wrongdoing in that case and has strongly denied any illicit activity (just as he’s doing with this admissions scandal).

Until any definitive proof comes out that shows Mickelson was paying bribes for test-taking or admission, he is innocent until proven guilty in this. In all the other cases that made the news this week, there are wiretapped conversations and a paper trail of money being funneled. At this time, we’ve seen nothing along those lines with Phil, and believe he honestly used these services in the way he’s claimed.