by Mike Spear
I'm curious if you realize that Phil led for the past 10 or eleven rounds or what ever it was. Don't you think that maybe concentrating and dominating golf courses for that long takes a toll much less having to hold off the most talented golfer in the world nipping at your heels? Heck, you couldn't even write a short column with-out a mistake..."It was the only the best of one:....."
Get real, you golf writers have no idea what it takes to be an elite athlete much less an elite writer. How many Majors have you won? Pulitzers? I didn't think so.

by Jon
Typically,when a writer employs "choke" to describe an athlete succumbing to pressure, you know 2 things: a) the writer has never been there, nor does he have the courage to put himself in a vulnerable position like that and b) he's got a bad case of "deadline paranoia", the fear that drives many hacks to use easy, psuedo-controversial terms like "gag" or "choke" so that the absense of the skills required to write something insightful or truly interesting and/or provocative is not so noticable. Phil played hard, missed some makeable putts coming in, and was beat by the best in the game. Afterward, he displayed some human emotion, contrary to the frequent criticism, and in the case of whomever wrote this drivel (if I'd written it, I wouldn't have included a by-line either)mocking, vis a vis "Mr. Friendly Everyman". Usually this sort of cheap shot comes from an unhappy, angry sports-writer, the kind who's been burned by shamelessly self-centered athletes and can't stand to see someone as satisfied, gifted, and utterly approachable as Mickleson succeed. Pity, really

by Craig
You people of the press are so fast to critisize so you can get a story to stir up a mess.
Do you relize how much presure was on those two player(mainly because of all the hype by the press)to preform head to head. Not too mention the normal presure of the tournament itself.
They were both mentally waisted after that round you could see on their faces.
Of course Tiger is going to give the interveiw, that is expected.
Their never is a tv interveiw with the guy that finishes second...come on wakeup.

by Harry
Do you play golf? Phil didn't choke. He came as close as he could have to making putts that lipped out. Tiger is a better putter and that showed. It was a great match and someone had to lose. If Tiger lost, would you have said that he choked? Give the little kids a break.

by Marty
After reading the first couple graphs of this no-talent hack's effort, it's no wonder Mickelson blows off your "staff writers", if they are anything like you.
I have a solution to your negative rantings. It's called the "block sender" button on my email, which is where I'm headed next.
Finally, Here's a journalism tip. Actually more a tenet: If you are going to write that someone is a choker in the nut graph, then the second, third and fourth graphs shouldn't be about something completely different.
No wonder you couldn't keep the New Jersey Nets beat.

by Gary
Were you watching the tournament at all? And or you even a golfer? Phil was taking dead aim at the pin all day. That is being aggressive...NOT choking. And when he did miss a putt it was usually firm and on the high side. That is also being aggressive...NOT choking.
Choking in golf is missing greens and leaving putts short and on the low side. Trust me I know.....lol
Also, history will note that Phil was never that great of a putter. He changes putters every three years.

by CB Maxwell
Come on team...you guys sure are using a lot of pixels to blast the writer for his "opinion" when last I checked is what writers do in Opinion pieces. Tiger opened the door on 16, with a missed putt, and if Phil didn't take a long time to pull the trigger on his putt, I don't know what. I had time to write a term paper, so he knew, and Tiger knew that this was the putt to make. He didn't, not a choke perhaps, but certainly a bit of a gag. It was a tentative stroke, and he was "wishing" it in, instead of putting it in. Had the circumstances been reversed, I think we can speculate, Tiger makes that putt to go one up. Great drama no doubt, but was the conclusion ever in doubt after the eagle? Not for this observer.

by Rick
I think you are over-stating things considerably when you call him grumpy - so he did not wish to be peppered with questions as he walked off the 18th - would you ?
Also I saw the post round press conference - his reaction seemed to match the circumstances and he was gracious about his opponents play - as usual.
The real drama was on the course - and unless you have more facts to the contrary - you should leave it there !

by Bill
Were you watching the same tournament as I was? It doesn't seem so by your "analysis". Your comments/opinions were tastelessand one-sided.

by Norm
As usual, you show just how completely ignorant you and your staff are on professional golf! Rather than just report the fact, you have to bring your own personal inadequacies into the picture by picking at all the nits that you can. You can't just recognize the overall skill levels that these two men exhibited on this day -- taking and giving punches that you would not even be able to comprehend. Why don't you say how badly all of the rest of the players in the field played too? They got beated badly by both of these gladiators but no, you just have to attack a man who took the tournament right down to the last stroke. You should be ashamed to have made the comment about Phil's children like that! I'm surprised you didn't chastise Tiger for not having kids yet to run out to congratulate him! Obviously, you have risen far beyond your level of competency in this job and I heartily encourage your bosses to fire you as quickly as possible so that they can get somebody who really cares about the game of golf and those who play it as their occupation.