Phil Mickelson treats swing coach Rick Smith like Alec Baldwin treats his daughter

Apr 23

Phil Mickelson treats swing coach Rick Smith like Alec Baldwin treats his daughter

It’s a safe bet that Phil Mickelson didn’t call his longtime swing coach and good friend Rick Smith a “thoughtless little pig” when he reportedly essentially fired him. Smith has too much class to ever sling that kind of statement at Mickelson too - though it actually may sort of fit if you think about it in Phil’s case.

With his game wobbly and his mental fortitude still mush after his 2006 U.S. Open blunder for the ages, Mickelson is set to throw Smith overboard and go with Butch Harmon, one of the great blowhards in all of golf. This after Mickelson spent months, dozens of press conferences and a long ESPN Magazine article he wrote insisting that everything was great with him, thank you very much!

And after he long denied he would turn to Harmon full time.

Mickelson’s admitting Ok, I am screwed up but instead of stepping up and taking responsibility for it himself, he’s heaping the blame on Smith. It doesn’t matter how many nice things Phil says about his buddy - as he surely will - later this week. When you change swing coaches, it makes the discarded coach look bad no matter how much fake talk you spew out of a smile.

Just when you think Mickelson gets a raw deal from many golf writers, he turns around and (reportedly) pulls a gutless play like this. Maybe all those Phil haters know what they are talking about after all.

Mickelson and Harmon are sure to be one hilarious pairing. You have the most publicity hungry golfer of all time teaming up with the most publicity hungry swing coach in three universes. Good luck getting in a TV camera edgewise when these two spotlight cravers are at the range together. Wonder how Phil’s going to take it when Harmon starts saying he was clueless before the great Butch stepped in as coach?

Tiger Woods jettisoned Harmon when he realized just how egotistical - and self-serving - the coach was getting. Now Harmon gets Mickelson and the possibilities are endless.

Unless you’re Rick Smith, the good guy Mickelson kicked in the back.

At least Alec Baldwin planned to see his 11-year-old daughter Ireland to yell at her in person too. Faker Phil does the damage through sweet words and a smile. Great job, buddy. Now get out.

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15 comments

§ joan said on : 2007-04-23 @ 09:41
You are so off base is isn't funny. When a sports team goes bad they fire the whole team no just the manager. If you kwow Phil you know he is a class act right to the bone. Y I'm sure this was a tough decision because they are friends. You are a Phil hater because you are JEALOUS. He appears to have it all. INCLUDING 30 WINS!!!!!!!!
§ Matt said on : 2007-04-23 @ 10:09
Fascinating that when Tiger makes the change in coaches he's done the right thing but when Phil changes coaches he's stabbing someone in the back. Oh that's right. Tiger can do no wrong and Phil can do no right. I tend to forget that.
§ Ron Mon® said on : 2007-04-23 @ 10:22
I agree with Chris (like Haley's Comet, rarely passes by) on this one. However, I wonder if it wasn't amicable enough. This isn't a middle school crush, where you hear from a friend that someone else has broken up with you. The only constant in Phil's golfing life is Bones; the rest is always open to interpretation and replacement.
§ Simon said on : 2007-04-23 @ 13:53
For you to accuse Mickelson of being on an eho trip is actually mildly amusing when you consider the sheer hypocracy of it! When you start writing like a proper journalist for a proper publication and stop writing these biased and bitter rants then maybe people will start to take you seriously.

Ron Mon - I would say that there are three important figures in players 'golfing life'; caddy, coach and manager. Phil has been on Tour for about 15 years and in that time his caddy and manager are unchanged, Bones and Steve Loy. Prett constant. His only true coaches are the pairing of Pelz and Smith so as far as I see the split is the first deviation from a wholly 'constant' entourage around Phil!
§ Rob said on : 2007-04-23 @ 17:36
So, what - unlike every other player on tour, Mickelson is not allowed to change swing coaches without being accused of being a backstabber?

Whatever he's been doing with Rick Smith over the last couple of years hasn't worked. Time for a new approach - that's all.

It's clear from the tone of Baldwin's blog entry that he's a Tiger apologist who can't stand the fact that Phil is more popular. Get a life, dude.
§ Art said on : 2007-04-24 @ 05:26
Yeah Baldwin you screwed up this time. Phil And Smith are both agreeing on this change. I'm sure you will not see Phil cuss and scream like tigi does when he gets upset. Maybe he should so he gets out his frustration, but he is too classy for that. He really just needs a mental coach, not a swing Coach. I bet he hits them straight all day on the range and in practice rounds
§ Shanks® said on : 2007-04-24 @ 11:20
Chris must be related to Alec. That would explain a few things.
§ Booger said on : 2007-04-24 @ 22:49
Swing coach? Ben Hogan, again, is rolling
in his grave.
§ David DeSmth said on : 2007-04-25 @ 12:58
Seems to me that Alec Baldwin wasn't the only one who had a little too much anger soup of late. This rant is uncalled for and out of line. Like Phil or hate him, whomever he hires to work with him is his business alone, and without actual knowledge of his discussions with either Rick Smith or Butch Harmon, this kind of obviously biased speculation isn't journalism -- it's muckraking. Golf doesn't need this, nor does this website. To say that Phil and Butch are media hogs -- and then dedicate space to this kind of media-bashing, is hypocrisy at its finest.
§ David Freeman said on : 2007-04-26 @ 18:34
You set back "freedom of speech" more than anyone I know. If you were any more ignorant about golf you actually be right once in awhile, just by accident. When you're an immature arse I guess you view everyone else's thought process' from that same light.
§ Robin said on : 2007-04-26 @ 19:17
This article is insane. Phil is still friends with Rick Smith for years and will continue to have a relationship with him. I've met them both in person together and they have a great chemistry.

Just because your name is Baldwin doesn't mean you can sit there and compare the two stories. Stop writing and go find a job you're good at.
§ Mark said on : 2007-05-02 @ 14:46
More amazing than anything is that so many are so interested in so little....golf, regardless of the level one is able to play it, is basically about a stick, a ball, some holes, and walking....that, and all the wonderful bounty offered up by such experience--if only one can extricate themselves from their negativities long enough to go experience a walking round of golf....w/o tantrums, in as much as that might be possible from one individual to another. It's quite a lovely, albeit privileged, game. And how could anyone dare accuse Mr. Mickelson of excessive ego indulgences, publicity manipulation, and perhaps even outright vanity? Staggering to the unimaginative isn't it?
§ Jason said on : 2007-05-06 @ 20:47
You are full of S**t. I detect a little jealousy in your column. It is amazing someone like you can is allowed to write such garbage. You must be about a 40 handicap because you have not got a clue about anything golf related. How about doing us all a favor and stop writing your thoughts down on paper and begin doing something worthwhile with your life. For you janitor or garbage man would be appropriate.
§ Tiger Woods said on : 2007-05-14 @ 03:35
I agree. It was pretty hilarious watching Phil and Butch working together at the TPC this weekend. And I had a lot of free time to watch Phil win after I finished my round early in the day.
§ Phil said on : 2007-05-14 @ 09:13
how do you like me now?