Phil Mickelson never contends at PGA but shines in CBS booth
2 Min Read
Turn with Jim Nantz and Nick Faldo was classic Phil
All-time shots at TPC Harding Park
SAN FRANCISCO – Phil Mickelson was never really in contention at the 102nd PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park, and double-bogeyed the last hole on the way to a final-round 73.
But his lengthy turn in the CBS broadcast booth after the third round, in which Mickelson jabbed Faldo for his lack of distance, and Faldo jabbed back for having more majors, got people talking.
“I think that for somebody like myself that's never done that, having a guy like Jim Nantz kind of set things up and kind of stage what to talk about made it easy,” Mickelson said. “Because it's not like I prepared for anything. ... And then obviously to have a wonderful target like Nick, that made it nice, too.”
Within minutes of sitting down, Mickelson compared Faldo’s strapping physique to that of Bryson DeChambeau (wait for it), but while DeChambeau is exceptionally long off the tee, Faldo was a bunter. When Faldo protested that he was accurate and Lefty could dial back and be the same, Mickelson quipped that he wasn’t sure he’d want to play golf that way.
Fans on Twitter were entertained, asking for more. Mickelson, while admitting that his game never quite clicked at TPC Harding Park, laughed at the prospect of going back into the booth.
“I had an early tee time,” he said, “so I had this afternoon to spend time or to waste time, and it just kind of worked out. I've always had a good relationship with the guys at CBS. I play their fantasy football with all the producers. … Just, ‘Hey, what are you doing tomorrow?’ Did I enjoy it? Yeah, I enjoyed it because I felt it was easy with having those two guys there.
“I thought that Nantz just makes it easy” Mickelson added. “The way he sets you up to talk about areas of insight, he just makes it easy. I've always had a good rapport with Nick Faldo going back to when I played with him as an amateur in the Masters and he was really kind to me, and I've always enjoyed his kind of wit and British humor. So we've always had some good banter at the Champions' Dinners, and it was just an easy environment to spend an hour or so.”
Cameron Morfit began covering the PGA TOUR with Sports Illustrated in 1997, and after a long stretch at Golf Magazine and golf.com joined PGATOUR.COM as a Staff Writer in 2016. Follow Cameron Morfit on Twitter.