Phil Mickelson Remains America's Sympathetic Hero

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. -- We now know why Phil Mickelson hasn't been raising his index finger and yelling "I'm No. 1!"

His finger hasn't been working.

Neither has his wrist, knee, ankles or most other joints. Mickelson said Tuesday that he has an arthritic condition. It first flared at the U.S. Open eight weeks ago. Shortly afterward the pain was so bad he couldn't walk, much less swing a golf club.

Mickelson dropped the semi-bombshell at the start of his PGA Championship press conference. What was supposed to be an inquisition into why this guy can't reach the top suddenly started sounding like Lou Gehrig's farewell speech.

"I have this thing called psoriatic arthritis where your immune system attacks your joints and so forth," Mickelson said. "I say that because everything is fine now. I've been starting treatment and things have been great."

That's the good news. The bad news is us cynics won't have Phil the Flunkie to kick around this weekend. Mickelson's condition isn't career-threatening, but it is serious enough that he also dropped a real bombshell Tuesday:

"The last seven weeks -- this will be the shocker -- I've actually been a vegetarian."

That's like Tiger Woods announcing he's given up ... ah, enough about the current No. 1. Tiger's zipper problems largely allowed Mickelson's failings to fly under the radar this year.

He won an epic Masters and had four top-10 finishes, but golf's glamour boy didn't seem to want the starring role. Mickelson had a chance to knock Woods out of the No. 1 spot the past eight tournaments. He failed each time and came to Whistling Straits ranked No. 2 for the 258th consecutive week.

I was set to write how there was something wrong with Mickelson. Only my diagnosis was that happy-go-lucky Lefty just doesn't have the backbone it takes to be No. 1.

Mickelson seemed content to rake in millions, win the occasional big one and eat at Five Guys. He's part of an investment group that owns the rights to the hamburger chain in Orange County, California.

Holy cow meat, now what's he going to do?

"We're working on a veggie burger," Mickelson said.

Meanwhile, I'll work to remove the mustard from my face. There really was something wrong with Mickelson, only it wasn't a lack of moxie or an overriding desire for a double-cheeseburger.

"I haven't been able to work out for the past seven weeks," he said. "I'm about back to 80 percent of the weight I was at before."

Tuesday's revelation moves Mickelson 100 percent back into America's Sympathetic Zone. It was bad enough that his wife Amy is battling breast cancer. Psoriatic arthritis isn't nearly as serious, but it could turn a smooth golf swing into a creaking mechanical failure.

The first twinge hit the Sunday before the U.S. Open. Mickelson still finished fourth, and then took a vacation to Hawaii. That's when his 40-year-old body felt as if it were aging a decade an hour.

"Every joint in my body started to hurt to where I couldn't move," he said. "I would just lay down and couldn't roll over."



Mickelson went to doctors in California and then the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. Only his inner circle knew what was going on.

His first tournament back was the British Open. The only clue was his left index finger would hang off the club during his swing. Mickelson tied for 48th at St. Andrews, but most of the attention went to Woods' slide from grace and greatness.

When Tiger unraveled last week at the Bridgestone, all Mickelson needed was a fourth-place finish to end Woods' five-year reign as No. 1. Mickelson was tied for second going into the weekend, but almost out-stunk Tiger and finished tied for 46th.

What was wrong with Phil?

He wasn't going to say.

"First of all, I don't want to make excuses," he said. "And second, I don't want to discuss something when I don't know what the outcome is going to be."

Mickelson has started taking a weekly injection of the drug Enbrel. It doesn't cure the arthritis but it has dramatically lessened his symptoms.

"Now I feel confident it's not going to affect not only the rest of my career or the rest of my life," he said, "but even the short term it shouldn't have an effect."

Maybe not on him. It's made all of us Mickelson skeptics feel a little sheepish. He may not quite be No. 1 in the world, but you can see why he's No. 1 in the hearts of most golf fans.

And what if Psoriatic Phil actually won this week?

"It would make the year remarkable," he said. "It would just make it a super year."

We can all eat to that. Even if it's a veggie burger.