I just finished reading Phil - The Rip-Roaring (and Unauthorized!) Biography of Golf’s Most Colorful Superstar by Alan Shipnuck. For anyone who is a fan of golf, this is a good read. For anyone who is either a fan of or fascinated by Phil Mickelson, this is a very entertaining read.
In the context of talking about relationships, there are two people from the book who are illustrative of how the power of relationships can drive incredible results.
The first is Steve Loy, Phil’s longtime manager, close friend and business partner. The year Mickelson was deciding on where to go to college, Loy was the head golf coach at Arizona State University. Mickelson decided to go to school at ASU, and a lifetime relationship began as a coach / player relationship.
Loy became Mickelson’s agent upon his graduation. That evolved into Loy becoming Mickelson’s manager, and eventually his business partner in several ventures. Shipnuck described their relationship by citing several people close to both Mickelson and Loy.
“It’s more like a marriage than a business relationship,” says Davis Love (another professional golfer). Someone who is close to both Loy and Mickelson believes the bond is stronger than that; after all, marriages can dissolved. “They’re like blood brothers,” says this person. “They know all of each other’s secrets and they’re going to take them to the grave.”
The second person is Mickelson himself. Shipnuck stated “He is always canny about mixing business and friendship”. Mickelson viewed pro-am events as a networking event. He insisted on playing with a top executive from one of his endorsement partners.
Shipnuck describes a specific example involving Bearing Point (a management and technology consulting firm) and the company’s CEO Harry You. Mickelson would attend Bearing Point sponsored outings, with full briefings on the attendees.
As You described it, Mickelson “makes people feel happy and feel special, and in the context of entertaining and building relationships, that’s invaluable”. Bearing Point paid Mickelson $8-$10 million per year. You said “he’s worth ten time more”.
Thanks for the article, I now know what to ask for Father's day!
A personal Phil story from the US Open at Shinnecock a few years ago.
As a lefty and more of a contemporary of mine than these young studs on the tour Phil was always a favorite of mine.
I was along the ropes at 18 as Phil walked off from a practice round. I lingered and watched as he signed with a smile anything and everything shoved in his face. In doing so he was talking to people about how much he loves the Hamptons. He was rattling off restaurants in the area and sites and towns he loves to go to when there. Now, I bet he says the same thing at the John Deere Classic in the Quad Cities in Illinois!
After I held back and let all the kids and others have their turn I too shoved my program into his face. With a smile he signed it and I wished him well. I felt like a million bucks!
Tiger on the other hand walked past the crowd as if they were not there, and headed to his yacht docked near by.
It is all about relationships, even with people you do not know and will never see again!