Phil Mickelson is one of the great self promoters in the history of modern sports. He’s almost as good as Derek Jeter, who’s turned so-so stats and some supposed winning mumbo jumbo into ridiculously over-the-top praise and a contract way out of whack for his production.

Still even Mickelson seems to understand that the California fires are not something that should be turned into a story about him.

Too bad a bunch of golf writers cannot seem to understand this.

When Mickelson was contacted by Golf World and breathlessly asked how he and his family were doing in the wake of the fires raging near his San Diego area home, he replied with a simple, “We’re safe, the family is together.”

Mickelson knows that this story shouldn’t be about him on any level even if he’s unfortunate enough to lose his home to the raging flames. He’s Phil Mickelson after all. There are thousands of people who will be much more hurt by these fires than Mickelson ever will. Rebuilding or relocating, if it comes to either, is not going to be a crushing financial blow to Mickelson, who’d be one of the first guys to tell you he’s been blessed in life.

You want to find people who are really hurting from the fires? Head to Qualcomm Stadium, where 15,000 folks who have no where else to go are sleeping on cots. Picture what that’s like, having to flee your home with no friends or family nearby to take you in with a smile. With no resources to get farther away from the smoke. That’s tough.

The mega-millionaire pro golfer flying in and out from a big-wig corporate appearance in New Jersey on his personal jet isn’t in the same scene.

WorldGolf.com’s own Willie K. Wolfrum wrote that Mickelson “helped to put a face on the tragedy.”

Only if that face is a rich, largely unaffected one. Somehow, I don’t think the Red Cross is going to use a picture of a dour-faced Phil to secure donations for fire victims.

There may be heartwarming, interesting golf stories with the California fires. But Phil Mickelson isn’t one of them.

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