フィル・ミケルソンとゴルフクラブを一緒に作るというのは実際どんな感じか

フィル・ミケルソンとゴルフクラブを一緒に作るというのは実際どんな感じか

So, you worked with Phil like when Phil when you were on on like he was, you know, between you and Garrett Pawn, you know, Garrett and Carl’s bad and you out on tour. Um, talk to me a little bit because I’m sure people want to know like working with Phil. Um, I’ve always found him to be pretty open-minded like he’s, you know, he he I don’t know how if he’s a hard switcher because I’ve never fit him. Obviously, I’m not that’s not my job, but he seems to be pretty receptive. Like, he wants to know. He’s got a curiosity around equipment which is kind of fun to talk to but but you’ve worked with him and got clubs in his bag. So like what what’s that experience like? Yeah. So obviously when I went uh so I worked on the LBJ in 2008 2009 corn ferry 2010 or whatever it was called back then and then went to I was the Odyssey rep for five years starting in 2011. So, my first kind of intro to PJ Tour and Phil was more on the Odyssey side. And uh I had one really good thing working for me in my favor. Like I was starruck with Phil. I loved like even before working for Callaway, I was the biggest Phil fan. And when I tell you the story, you’ll understand why. But like um so Jimmy Mai Bones uh his longtime caddy is from my hometown. And when um when I was a kid, he was my babysitter. So I’ve known I’ve known Jimmy my literally my entire life. And so Jimmy was a high school golfer. My dad played on tour and he just my dad took a liking to Jimmy. And so they played a lot of golf together out at the Mun. And then he became my babysitter. And so like fast forward through like Jimmy’s like rise in the ranks through the caddy world. And so when he started catting for Phil, like Phil became my favorite player because of Jimmy. So I um it was Jimmy always was so great to me and he was he had Phil’s ear. He’s like, “Hey, if you need anything like I I trust this guy. Like I’ve known him my whole life. I’ve known his family.” And um so that like that set it up to where there was a little bit less intimidation with Phil. Um but but still like I mean I had his that classic you know PM like 882 style. He brought it on asked me to bend it on the uh at the masters like one of the first years I was doing it and um you know I so you know like a loftly machine and like how you fit putters into a Lawfly machine. you know, there’s no scoop. There’s no pocket on the back and like there’s only so many fixtures and I first time he asked me to bend it and that thing is like it’s not like a normal metal it Yeah. And it doesn’t want to bend. And I was trying to get this thing in the fixture and like and then, you know, put enough pressure and it slipped out of the fixture that I had and it scratched. It scratched it a decent amount and I mean I was mortified at having to You go ahead. Have you heard Have you heard Joe’s story of he broke one? Yeah, he has a simp Yeah, he broke one. I didn’t It’s like Everybody has a story about that Phil’s damn putter. It’s so funny to me that like it’s a thing, right? Cuz those putters are notoriously Well, it had it had lead caked on the back, too. So, there was just like there was like no way to get this thing in this fixture at the time. So anyways, I I scratched a little bit and I had to I was like, “Man, I’m sorry.” And he like looked. He’s like, “Ah, I don’t even see it.” Whatever. And he was fine with it. So I’m like, “Oh, thank God.” But uh one of my um my favorite Phil stories though, and I don’t even know if Phil truly I don’t think he even knows this story, but um so this is back going back, you know, before being married and my single days. And you know, every now and then, you know, out on the road, we we could have some fun and the nights could get a little bit long and uh and I could handle it as a young younger man. Uh could not today, but back then we were at Deutsche Bank in Boston. And me and some of my co-workers, we had a a pretty late night and had a lot of fun that night. And uh the next day show up and I have not slept very much at all and you know wasn’t feeling my best and um Jimmy calls me and he goes hey can you meet Phil on the putting green and I’m like yeah like no problem um walk over and he has a a custommade left-handed saber-tooth belly putter in the back and he’s trying to like figure out how to use this belly putter because at that time He was playing a ton of golf with Keegan. He had kind of taken Keegan under his arm. And you know, Keegan, I was I built his original saber-tooth. And actually, it’s buried in other stuff, but I actually still have the grip. Uh I I changed the grip at Maui after he had uh won, you know, the PGA Championship and kind of like just took off. And I threw it in the garbage and I was looking, I was like, that’s like history right there. That was the first belly putter to win a major. So, I like took it. Yeah. Yeah. Hang on. Hang on to that one. Yeah, that’s sweet. Yeah. if I can get I’m gonna drop a hundred things, but I I’ll pull it out a second. But anyways, so Phil’s like, “Hey, like tell me about this belly putter.” Like like what do I do? Like where do I put it in my stance? And and like Austy Rollinsson had taken a a saber-tooth one of the um uh mid putters and sliced the spud off, you know, rewelded it because that was a perfectly symmetrical head and you could do that. And then he had inserts to with the, you know, insignia on the other side. So, it was it was beautiful custom left-handed belly putter. And he’s asking me all these questions about how to use a belly putter. And I mean, I’m in the deepest of fogs mentally from my night out. And uh I had to suck it up and just try to like answer all these questions. And then finally, we like finished up and I was just like, “Oh my god, how did like what just happened?” Like I cannot believe I just had to go through that and it was 100%. But yeah, that was watching him try and I think he used it that way and putted terrible and luckily it was out of he had no but I thought it was funny. That was like one of the deepest we’ve ever went into like technique like putting technique and like you know disciplines on like ball position stuff like that. It’s the first time he’s ever asked me like my opinions on that stuff and it’s the one night that of that year that probably that I probably had the longest night. Your your your soul was not in your body? No, that was I feel like that was God just like, “Hey, check yourself, bud.” Like you’re under control. Do you know what’s Do you know what’s funny with Phil though? Like what’s funny with Phil is like um and I remember the first time I met him, I told that story already, but the first time you meet him, like he’s very intense. Like when he’s talking to you, if he’s engaged on you, his eyes are on you. He’s almost like a velociraptor. He’s just like this. Yeah. Right. So, so I remember um and it was my first like like you JT like your last week was at Palm Beach. My first non-content shoot week was at it was at Palm Beach. You were there that week and um and I remember showing up. I’m like, “Okay, I don’t have a content shoot. This is just me on tour on the job.” So, I show up at like 6:30 or whatever, you know, on a Monday morning. And um and you guys were doing like you were doing drop off locker drop offs or whatever. And I kind of wander back to the truck at like 7:20. I was on the driving range or whatever. And I wander back and there’s nobody on the truck except for Phil and he’s back. This is on the old truck. He’s back on that top level bending bending clubs. And he had his sunglasses on. Like it was the most awkward [ __ ] thing I’ve ever experienced in my life. And I walk on the truck and I go, “Oh god.” Like there’s And he’s like, “Hey man, how you doing?” And I’m like, “Hey Phil, how’s it going?” And he’s just back there just [ __ ] wrenching on clubs or whatever. And I didn’t know if that was I didn’t know that was a thing. I didn’t know that he just kind of took the liberties and kind of went and worked on his own stuff. So I remember kind of like awkwardly kind of backing out of the truck and like shutting the door really quietly cuz I didn’t know what to do. I’m like this is day three on the job like like what the and just Phil Mickelson at 7:20 with it was still dark with sunglasses on betting his clubs. And I remember I turned around and I think either Jacob or Joe walked up to me and I looked like I just seen a ghost and like what’s going on? You okay? And I’m like, “Yeah, Phil Mickelson’s on the truck bending clubs by himself.” And they’re like, Joe’s like, or I forget who was like, “Yeah, that’s yeah, that’s it’s Monday. That’s kind of what he does sometimes.” And I was like, “Okay.” And I didn’t that was my first like like I’m on the PGA tour moment with Phil. Like this guy’s this guy’s just a whole another vibration. Like like the stuff that he does is is is is very very unique.

Fully Equipped’s Johnny Wunder and Jake Morrow are joined by Callaway’s Johnny Thompson to break down their best stories from working with Phil Mickelson.

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