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Get Four
|  | APRIL 1, 2005
By Mark Hyman Phil Mickelson's Family Values The defending Masters golf champion's wholesome image and penchant for good works has him in the top tier of corporate endorsers When Phil Mickelson swats his first tee shot at the Masters Tournament on Apr. 6, his caddie won't be much taller than a leprechaun. For the annual par-3 tourney, a prelim to the main event, Mickelson has lined up his five-year-old daughter, Amanda, a bouncy kindergartner who'll presumably be paid in Gummy Bears. "It should be cute. It's one of the things about the Masters we're really looking forward to this year," says Mickelson's wife, Amy. It's fitting that Mickelson's quest for back-to-back Masters' titles begins with family. The lefty swinger is such a dedicated dad and dutiful husband that in 1999, with Amy nine months pregnant, he played the U.S. Open with a beeper in his golf bag. He promised to drop out -- though he came within a shot of winning -- if his wife went into labor. (Amanda was born a day after the tourney.) Now that sources close to the Mickelson camp say he has sworn off sports betting -- the only glitch in his otherwise squeaky clean image -- his genuine devotion to his young family is helping establish him as a latter-day Ward Cleaver of golf. And Mickelson, 34, is proving that having a wholesome image can be highly lucrative. YOUNGSTER BOOSTERS. This year, Mickelson's endorsement income will top $20 million, which some sports marketers say ranks him as the No. 2 among U.S. athletes in off-field earnings. Tiger Woods tops the leader board at about $80 million. But in their hometown of San Diego, Phil and Amy are known not just for making big money but for lending their names to good works projects. They've been active in promoting Start Smart, a program that helped hundreds of children from underprivileged families pick up free backpacks and other school supplies at local stores. And together with ExxonMobil (XOM ), the Mickelsons are backing a new training center to hone the skills of elementary school science and math teachers. The Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy will hold its first sessions in July. Mickelson is also in the third year of an endorsement deal with Ford (F ), which pays him a reported $5 million to $7 million annually. The cars in the Mickelson garage are Ford Expeditions, Phil says, because for transporting the young ones -- Amanda, Sophia, 3, and Evan, 2 -- "it's the safest vehicle out there." Even Mickelson's new memoir, One Magical Sunday, is a bouquet to his family. Warner Books nabbed the project for an advance of more than $500,000, according to publishing sources. TOO UPBEAT? These deals would be out of bounds for rival marquee golfers Tiger Woods, who doesn't have children, or Vijay Singh, who keeps his private life strictly private. But they suit Mickelson, marketers say, because they reflect who he really is. When Mickelson heads for the course -- he played in 22 PGA Tour events last year -- strollers and car seats usually go with him. "A lot of men want to be good at their jobs and great at being a parent. That's how Phil is viewed," says Jeffrey Chown, a managing director with Talent Link, a unit of Dallas-based Marketing Arm, which advises companies on endorsement deals with athletes. Still, Mickelson can't completely shake questions of image and whether his is too upbeat and wholesome to be believed. He declines to be interviewed about past betting, which sources near him say ended two years. In the past, though, the golfer hasn't hid his passion for handicapping and, at times, wagering on sports events. IRKING TIGER. In 2001, ESPN posted Mickelson's weekly picks for National Football League games to its Web site, even listing a Phil "lock" of the week for one game that he recommended highly to gamblers. As recently as February, when Singh was asked on HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel if he envied Mickelson's family-man image, he replied: "Yeah. But is that the true Phil?" Mickelson has certainly had his Homer Simpson moments. In 2001, Mickelson was reprimanded by the Tour for what it termed a "technical violation" for betting another player on how a third player's shot would turn out. Mickelson's penchant for answering most questions directly also draws him into controversies, too. Two years ago he rankled Woods and Nike (NKE ), which supplies his golf equipment, by telling Golf magazine that "Tiger is the only player who is good enough to overcome the equipment he's stuck with." The tempests haven't scared off sponsors. "Interesting people tend to get more exposure than not interesting people. Phil will always give you his opinion," explains Marty Collins, Ford's general marketing manager. Mickelson also performs like a champion dad, chauffeuring his little ones to karate lessons and hanging around with other parents during dance class when the clan is home. Once a week, says Amy, he carves an hour of time to be alone with each of his children. Notes Phil: "I don't want to look back and wish I'd done this or that with my children. I want to help mold them into the people they become."
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