Phil: The Rip-Roaring (and Unauthorized!) Biography of Golf's Most Colorful Superstar

Alan Shipnuck's unauthorized biography of Phil Mickelson is an outstanding book of research. It took Shipnuck a long time to get to the point of writing a biography of one of golf's greatest legends. With the work he produces, it does not disappoint. Shipnuck is more than fair in his portrayal of Mickelson and his family. He shows us both sides of a life: the good and the bad of Phil Mickelson.First of all, Shipnuck let's us see Phil Mickelson in action as a person. He shows us a man who signs autographs endlessly for his fans ala Arnold Palmer. I think Phil modeled his on course and off course behavior with the fans after Arnold. He felt that having a crowd support him is better than the crowd being against him. Arnie had his "Army" and so did Phil. Phil also endeared himself to players on the PGA tour and many in the book sing his praises. However, there are those who would not. Phil can be offensive with his mouth often calling people by nicknames. Some are nice; others condescending. Phil showed himself to be a leader and a motivator. He showed himself to be highly motivated to win, and especially to win majors.Phil is shown to be a great husband when his wife, Amy, was stricken with cancer. His victory at the Masters in 2010 showed us that. He was incredibly supportive during the birth of their children.Phil and his family were shown to be charitable to many causes. Phil treated the people who worked for him at golf tournaments by tipping them generoursly. His counterpart, Tiger Woods, was considered to be cheap. It is well known. Phil helped families who suffered misfortunes. His family were generous to the community.On the other hand, Shipnuck has shown to us a "darker" side if you will of Phil Mickelson: his shady dealings with nefarious people and his penchant for gambling. We are all flawed. Phil is no exception. We learn of the dubious insider trading deal, his connection to bookies that were sleasebags ( one bilking Mickelson out of 500K), and gambling gambits that lost him millions of dollars. If one is making 50 million a year, what's a ten million dollar loss for four years in a row? But the more overriding concern of his gambling is the depth of the loss that none of us know about. Was there more than we know? Did he sell his Gulfstream airplane because he had money issues? Was Phil's overwhelming drive to win golf tournaments to pay back gambling debts or to make history? Why did he owe 900k to Jim "Bones" Mackay? Why did Phil not allow Jim to have the 18th hole flag of Phil's victories ( Phil manages to pay 800k to Jim and sent him 4 flags)? How can a golfer of his stature "owe" that much money to his caddie? Perhaps we will never know the full story about the gambling that Mickelson has done, and perhaps it is none of our business. And he is well known for relating his feelings about the taxes he has to pay in the State of California! Gee, I guess he did not have enough left over?Phil then lets his mouth get the better of him when he relates how he feels about the PGA Tour. He questions why a company with 800 million dollars in the bank is a charitable non-profit organization. He lets other things come out that were aired and he is immediately punished by his corporate sponsors. Sometimes it is best to leave things behind closed doors. In my readings, Phil has a lot of good points about the PGA tour that have already been modified. Larger amounts of money for winning tournaments has already happened in their response to players abandoning the tour for the richer Saudi League. The jury is still out about who is righter on the issue of Phil's complaints. Phil is a bold with his mouth as he is with his play on the golf course: both of these traits have cost him dearly but you have to admire a man with his courage.There was no doubt that Phil was driven to make golf history, but he had to fight Tiger Woods to make that history. Just ask any of those who played against Nicklaus what they had to do to beat the guy! There were several who did not back down. Phil's gambling style on the golf course cost him a number of majors and never being able to win the US Open is one of his greatest failures. He did lose because of himself a number of times when he missed putts he should not have and made shots that cost him dearly. We learn that he could not have done it any other way. I heartily disagee. A 4 iron, a five iron, a chip and two putts could have easily won the US Open at Winged Foot. His 6 runner up finishes were all his fault.After reading the book, I am a fan of Phil Mickelson for life. He has shown such courage and he has shown that his is just a human being like the rest of us. He has made his mistakes and perhaps he has not thought things through clearly but his outspoken comments are probably 100% accurate. I will cheer for him whenever I see him play. I cannot do the same for Tiger. That is a different story.

I am not a true golf fan but watch it on Saturdays and Sundays, sometimes just in the background. I saw this book on Amazon and since I like biographies and memoirs, I thought I would try it. I don't understand golf, the birdies, chips,...what have yous. I could barely put it down. I enjoyed this book tremendously. Go figure.

Good biography. Story takes you right up to the LIV departure.

If you're not a golf geek or fan of Phil Mickelson this book is probably not for you. It tells the tale from childhood to current day of an exceptionally talented golfer whose personality, charm and charisma together with the afore mentioned talent carried him to the pinnacle of success in his field. Like most idols he also has feet of clay and has made some mistakes along the way. All of his exploits on the golf course have been fully chronicled. This book spends about 75% of its time retelling those experiences and giving some insight into Mickelson's thought processes, shot by shot. This does get a bit tiring and repetitive. The best parts of the book are the behind the scenes look at Phil's family life, which is reminiscent of "Ozzie and Harriet", too good to be true, but according to the author is true. Also his oversized and often unpublicized philanthropy, his gambling addiction, his facility for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, his facility for saying the right thing at the right time, his immense confidence in himself, his relationship with his caddy of 25 years and how he is viewed by his peers. Phil has been and probably will continue to be for at least a few more years the swashbuckling, risk taking golfer we have all admired from afar. This book gives us a close up look at the man, warts and all.

I’m a big golf fan, I’m a couple years older than Phil but have been playing and watching golf for over 30 years now and remember his name from his college days and his rivalry with Manny Zerman. This book was a very enjoyable read which brought forth example after example of what makes Phil such a big personality in the game and how impactful he has been. I hope he eventually finds his way to the TV booth because there’s no doubt he can not only make watching golf much more fun, but also add insight and say the things some people won’t say.

I'm a Phil fan and read this book for obvious reasons given the latest headlines. I thought what I would be reading was a hit job but the book really isn't that. In fact, I thought it was fairly balanced in presenting multiple takes on Phil and his history. I never felt that the writer was trying to tear Phil down and my guess is he still has some fondness for him after all these years. The book spends plenty of time on the messier side of all things Phil but there was plenty of time dedicated to more positive aspects. I did feel the book seemed to not have a singular voice and was kind of choppy at times. My guess is it was heavily edited someone other than the author was pulling the strings in the book. In the end was my opinion of Phil changed? No, the dude is a champion and one of the best at what he does, and, shocking, he's human. As someone who enjoys gambling, I didn't see the big deal on all the harping on that and so what if the guy can occasionally be a prima donna, again, who cares. I "guess" I have a more realistic view of him after reading this book as there was some new stuff, but it seems that writers like this are obsessed with the notion that the public is blind to the faults of our heroes. its a gullible notion at best as anyone who has been alive for more than 30-years doesn't do this regularly.

A good and very thoroughly researched account of Mickelson's career from childhood right up to the LIV controversy but I was surprised not to find more in it that I didn't already know. It's mainly a collection of anecdotes, quotes, and reports on significant tournaments. Understandable given the author's background as a journalist, but the result is a book that feels more like a very in-depth newspaper article than a biography. There is some good insight interspersed with the facts, but I'd have liked to see an additional chapter dedicated to Mickelson's personality, achievements, and place in the history of the game.On a side note, as a reader in Ireland, I find the cliché-heavy, insider-ish nature of American sportswriting irritating at times and this book is no different (e.g. repeated references to the Crosby Clambake - why not just call it the Pebble Beach Pro-Am at least once?). I guess that's a cultural difference and maybe a lack of knowledge on my part but it calls to mind the George Bernard Shaw quote about America and England being two countries separated by a common language.

Really enjoyed some parts of this book. Fantastic insight into his life on and off the course revealing much about his character and competitive streak.Other parts I found to be a slow monologue which felt like page padding, especially when repeated elsewhere in the book.Just like Phil’s golf, fluctuating between fantastic and ok.

While the book is engaging, it's not rip roaring. Nothing much in it that wasn't already known.

I enjoyed the book and it was a great insight into Phil Mickleson and what makes him tick. Some of the stories made me laugh out loud however I couldn't help feel the book could have been structured better at times it reads just like a collection of stories. I've also read Bud, Sweat and Tees which was an excellent read.

Nothing insightful and nothing which hasn’t been previously written. This book was a complete waste of time.Give it a miss.