{"id":1963,"date":"2015-04-27T14:27:44","date_gmt":"2015-04-27T14:27:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/?p=1963"},"modified":"2015-04-27T17:25:32","modified_gmt":"2015-04-27T17:25:32","slug":"mickelson-center-stage-at-the-fog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/golf\/instruction\/1963\/mickelson-center-stage-at-the-fog","title":{"rendered":"Mickelson center stage at the FOG"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Phil<\/a>

Phil Mickelson with the Lowerys at the FOG<\/p><\/div>\n

Recently, I played in a fog. I don\u2019t mean facing a low-hanging cloud at the first tee or even trying to overcome a hangover. No, I\u2019m talking about FOG, the celebrated Friends of Golf charity golf tournament held at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles. At the invite of my generous and good-hearted brother-in-law, John Lowery, I played in the 36th Annual FOG in April along with his father, brother and one of John\u2019s long time business colleagues.<\/p>\n

We had an absolute blast even though our final team score was relegated to the lower rungs of the leaderboard. So what. We were gladly part of an event that raises funds for scholarships and golf programs for area high schools and colleges. Byron Nelson once described the FOG as \u201cthe best one day event on its kind in the U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with playing golf at exclusive Bel-Air CC, a gem designed by George C. Thomas Jr. who also did Rivieria and LA Country Club (North & South), we were also entertained by the honored guest of this year\u2019s event, Phil Mickelson. Mickelson did a clinic, played golf and later spoke at the dinner that evening. Before sharing some snippets from that dinner let me provide a brief background on FOG.<\/p>\n

The tournament started in 1979 as a way to help support the neighboring UCLA golf team coached by Eddie Merrins, the esteemed head golf professional at Bel-Air. At the time, Merrins had a total golf team budget of $6000 which included his coaching stipend. A few years later, the tournament\u2019s mission evolved to support not only UCLA but other college, high school and junior golf programs in the southern California area. In 36 years, FOG has raised over $7 million dollars to support aspiring golfers at a grass-roots level. As Bel-Air member and CBS Golf\u2019s Jim Nantz remarked at the podium, \u201cThis little event was twenty-five years ahead of other grow-the-game initiatives. It\u2019s pretty amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPretty amazing\u201d was also a good description of the dinner program presented in Bel-Air\u2019s main dining room with its spectacular views of the course and Westwood\u2019s skyscrapers. In a nice touch, tournament organizers arranged to have a junior golfer, Shani\u2014who\u2019s been supported by FOG\u2019s programs\u2014conduct a brief interview of Mickelson prior to his remarks with Nantz.<\/p>\n

\"Shani,<\/a>

Shani, a junior golfer in LA, was invited to do a Q & A with the honored guest<\/p><\/div>\n

Here are some excerpts of both of those entertaining and enlightening exchanges.<\/p>\n

When asked by Shani about his most memorable junior golf tournament, Mickelson said:<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I was seven years old, my dad told me if I ever won a trophy at a junior tournament he\u2019d buy me a full set of clubs. In those tournaments, trophies were given out for the first three places and then ribbons from fourth to tenth place. At the time, my bag consisted of a three-wood, 7-iron, 9-iron and putter. So I entered this junior event in La Jolla, shot 29 on a par 27 course and ended up finishing second, winning a trophy. I asked him about getting that full set of clubs. But my dad, being a little tight, got me a used set of women\u2019s clubs. (laughter) But those clubs were the still greatest clubs ever.<\/em><\/p>\n

When asked what\u2019s the best advice he\u2019s received from his teacher Butch Harmon:<\/strong><\/p>\n

You gotta learn how to drive a golf ball, he told me. We\u2019ve been working on that for eight years and we\u2019re still working on it. Butch\u2019s gotten me to view par fours as par-threes. So on the tee at a par-four, he has me thinking where do I want to hit the par-three after my drive, from the fairway or from the rough or trees? Obviously, I\u2019ve been choosing the rough, option B (laughter.)<\/em><\/p>\n

When asked what advice he\u2019d lend to an aspiring college golfer:<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s no substitute for speed. You\u2019ve got to swing the club fast. So that means you have to be fit, strong, and you have to swing the club with authority. Don\u2019t let the club swing you. With speed, you\u2019ll be able to create spin on the golf ball, hit it higher, softer, and control it better\u2026You can\u2019t dominate in the game without speed\u2026So strength and speed first; work on control later. At 44, I\u2019m still working on control (laughter.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Jim Nantz, a prior FOG honoree, came up next and shared some thoughts and memories from anchoring 30 Masters (and counting) which he described as \u201cthe deepest and most important of my life.\u201d Along with Jack Nicklaus\u2019 victory in 1986 and former University of Houston roommate and friend Fred Couples\u2019 win in 1992, Nantz said Mickelson\u2019s breakthrough Masters win in 2004 was an extra special thrill. Describing Mickelson\u2019s final winning birdie as it rolled toward the 72nd hole, Nantz recalled: \u201cIs it his time? With inner joy, I added, \u2018Yes, at long last!\u2019 Nantz called Mickelson, a close personal friend, \u201cone of the iconic golfers of all time\u2014he\u2019s on golf\u2019s Mount Rushmore.”<\/p>\n

Seated on two stools, Nantz and Mickelson commenced to have a lively, insightful and often hilarious conversation about Phil’s career and game. Here are some excerpts:<\/p>\n

Mickelson sharing some early memories about getting started in the game:<\/strong><\/p>\n

At eight years of age, I went down to my local muni, Navajo Canyon GC in San Diego (now called Missions Trail) and asked to work there to have playing privileges. Rick Thompson, the local pro, told me, \u201cWell, we normally don\u2019t give jobs to 8-year-olds.\u201d But Rick went out on a limb and allowed me to show up and be responsible. I picked up trash, drove the cart to pick up pins at night, picked the range\u2014all so that I could play there for free and practice. When I was 12, that course was bought by American Golf Corp. and they fired everyone under 16. But I went to another course, Stardust, and they gave me an opportunity to work and play golf and practice.<\/em><\/p>\n

It all goes back to Rick Thompson, giving me a chance, keeping an eye on me, setting up games with other players and allowing me to do what I love\u2026It ultimately led to a hall of fame career. It’s those people that see the potential in kids like we saw at the clinic today. No one wants a handout, no one wants something for free; but rather these kids are looking for the opportunity to succeed. \u00a0FOG is about giving opportunities to kids who otherwise wouldn\u2019t have them\u2026That\u2019s why this is such a special event here at Bel-Air\u2026I\u2019m an indirect beneficiary of programs like FOG.<\/em><\/p>\n

When asked about golf\u2019s direction and current state of affairs:<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s headed in a very good direction and golf has a more welcoming environment nowadays. People say golf is in trouble because it\u2019s too slow. But I say it\u2019s not about speeding up play. Golf is not for everybody. If you love the inner challenge of testing yourself against a course. If you love going to course with buddies, the social aspect, if you love the head to head competition\u2014with a handicap system or straight up\u2014golf can fulfill all those desires. I want to go to the course and spend all day there, playing with friends and practicing\u2026We need courses where juniors and young golfers can do\u00a0the same\u2014with par-3 courses as well as practice facilities and a video game room in the clubhouse\u2026All these things will make juniors want to spend time at the course. At the six courses we own in Arizona, our play is up 180% in a year. We simply created an environment where you want to spend more time at a golf course, not less.<\/em><\/p>\n

Commenting on the 2015 Masters:<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was so close for me. Before that week, I\u2019d been throwing away shots and I finally put it together at the Masters. The 270 (final score) by Jordan (Spieth) didn\u2019t surprise me. The course was set up so differently than in previous years: the greens were softer than any tournament we played on Tour and were slower than they\u2019d ever been. Because of that the scores are set-up to be extremely low. Over the last five years at Augusta, that\u2019s been the trend. You can get away with a lot more mistakes now. Angles aren\u2019t as important when you can fly the ball to the hole and stop it. Angles are critical when the greens are firm and you can\u2019t stop the ball and you have to play for 60 feet of run\u2026With the greens soft and wet, you can get away with a lot of mistakes.<\/em><\/p>\n

Commenting on Rory McIlroy\u2019 s and Jordan Spieth\u2019s ascendance in the game:<\/strong><\/p>\n

They\u2019re both tremendous players but neither of them have approached what I saw in Tiger in 2000. That year I saw a level of play I never thought I\u2019d see in the game of golf. I saw a ball-striking performance, a driving distance performance, accuracy, iron and distance control, and ball flight control. And his short game, chipping and putting, were at a high level. Tiger could win tournaments even if he struck it bad due to his short game; and he could win tournaments even if he putted it bad because of his incredible ball-striking. He put them together and won the U.S. Open by 15 shots. I knew then that something needed to happen for me to be able to compete\u2026And something did happen: Tiger left Butch Harmon. (laughter)<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For more information about FOG, visit www.friendsofgolf.org<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Photos courtesy of Paul Lester Photography and the FOG.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recently, I played in a fog. I don\u2019t mean facing a low-hanging cloud at the first tee or even trying… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":1964,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,5,17,7],"tags":[1003741,2287,2832,1003743,1154,4242,53,159,1138,85333,903966,1003740],"class_list":["post-1963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-golf","category-instruction","category-courses-and-travel","category-personalities","tag-friends-of-golf","tag-bel-air-country-club","tag-terry-moore","tag-eddie-merrins","tag-phil-mickelson","tag-jordan-spieth","tag-tiger-woods","tag-augusta-national","tag-masters-tournament","tag-butch-harmon","tag-rory-mciiroy","tag-fog"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2015\/04\/unnamed.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1963"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1963\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1975,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1963\/revisions\/1975"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}