SAN DIEGO — Phil Mickelson turned to his biggest blunder on the golf course to apologize for his latest mistake with his mouth.
Mickelson caused a sensation this week by saying new federal and state tax rates kept him from being part of the San Diego Padres’ new ownership group and might cause him to move away from his native California as part of “drastic changes” brought on by the political climate.
He said Wednesday it was a “big mistake” to go public with his views, and he illustrated it with his worst moment in golf.
Mickelson was on the verge of finally winning the U.S. Open when he had a one-shot lead on the final hole at Winged Foot. He drove left onto the corporate tents, and then tried to hit 3-iron around a tree. It led to a double bogey that cost him the championship.
“This reminds me a lot of Winged Foot in 2006, where I hit a drive way left off the tents. So this happened to be way right,” Mickelson said, a playful reference to his position on the higher taxes. “I’ve made some dumb, dumb mistakes. And obviously, talking about this stuff was one of them.”
Golf Digest magazine listed Mickelson’s earnings on and off the golf course last year at $47 million, and millionaires complaining about their taxes is sure to be a polarizing topic. Mickelson figured that out quickly, issuing a statement on Monday night that he should have kept his opinion to himself.
After his final round of the Humana Challenge, he said the federal tax rate combined with California passing Proposition 30 — the first tax increase in the state since 2004 — would force him to make big changes.
“If you add up all the federal and you look at the disability and the unemployment and the Social Security and the state, my tax rate is 62, 63 percent,” Mickelson said on Sunday at PGA West. “So I’ve got to make some decisions on what I’m going to do.”
For all the talk about the tee shot at Winged Foot, what cost him the U.S. Open was trying to hit 3-iron onto the green instead of playing out to the fairway and trying to get up-and-down for his par.
“I think I’m going to learn my lesson and take a wedge and get it back in play,” Mickelson said, sticking with the golf analogy. “I made a big mistake talking about this stuff publicly, and I shouldn’t have done that.”
About the only thing missing from the Winged Foot story was a repeat of his most memorable line that day: “I am such an idiot.”
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