Phil Mickelson To A 17-Year-Old Australian Golfer: "I Don't Wake Up This Early To Play For Anything Less Than $2,500"
SMH- Essentially Ryan Ruffels had a choice – turn professional as a 17-year-old and have one of his parents escort him to some of the biggest tournaments on the US PGA Tour this year. Or, go to college in the US for the type of “grounding” many of the world’s top golfers established before heading to the big time. In one ear, call it the “college ear”, was the legendary Phil Mickelson. In the other, the “pro ear”, was Australian superstar Jason Day. First, the case from Mickelson. Acting as an “interim assistant coach” for Arizona State University for a short period to help out his brother, Mickleson extolled to Ruffels the virtues of the college system in trying to lure him to ASU. He did so in a famous phone call that we already knew about, but Ruffels also revealed a less known practice round he played with Mickelson in the US. “We get on the first tee, it’s pretty early in the morning and he says, ‘I don’t wake up this early to play for any less than $2500′,” Ruffels recalled of a friendly offer made to him by Mickelson.
What a line from Lefty. Degenerate Phil Mickelson is by far my favorite Phil Mickelson. As a lifelong Tiger supporter I’ve found myself rooting against Phil throughout his career but you can’t hate that line. Boss as fuck to say, “I don’t wake up for anything less than $2,500″ and to say it to a 17-year-old golfer nonetheless. Grown ups, juveniles, babies, doesn’t matter. Phil wants money on the match. I’m not much of a gambler myself but I like the athletes I follow to be the type of guys who put their dicks on the table when it comes to competition. Tiger is like that. Dan Patrick once played golf with Tiger and asked how much money he wanted to play for and Tiger famously responded, “Whatever makes you nervous.” Michael Jordan is clearly like that. There’s endless stories of his gambling habits on the golf course. I like that Phil is like that too. The funny part about this story though? Phil lost. He lost to the 17 year old kid. You can click on the link and read the whole article but long-story-short he told the kid he’d give him $5,000 if he won and the kid won. Ryan Ruffels birdied six of the last seven holes to beat Mickelson by one stroke. Should give the kid some confidence as he turns pro.