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Phil Mickelson's long-sleeve golf shirt: A brief history
By T.J. Auclair
Published on
Phil Mickelson has made a career out of generating a buzz... well, that, and winning golf tournaments.
His latest buzz-worthy headline? A fashion statement.
It all started during a much-anticipated practice round with Tiger Woods at Augusta National on the Tuesday of Masters week.
Lefty strolled to the first tee wearing a long-sleeved, button-down, dress shirt.
It isn't exactly your typical golf attire -- at least not since the early 1900s.
ESPN's Darren Rovell reported that day:
And don't worry. Even though the Mickelson-Woods practice round was a sign for fans that their relationship had reached the point of friendship after years of perceived tension, Woods didn't let the chance to give Mickelson the needle.
"I was giving him a little bit of grief about that," Woods said that day. "The only thing that was missing was a tie."
"I just thought I'd give it a try," Mickelson said. "It's a stretchy fabric. It performs well, and I think it looks good."
Mickelson liked it so much, in fact, that Rovell's tweet actually played out. Mickelson recently signed a deal with Mizzen+Main and has played the first two rounds of the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass this week -- alongside Woods and Rickie Fowler -- again wearing the banker-style, button-down dress shirt.
The fact that many in the golf world are taking some playful jabs at Mickelson's new look isn't lost on Lefty.
When you can't get off the bogey train, and your number one client is threatening to move their business overseas pic.twitter.com/rQUjwP2q7I
— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) May 10, 2018
Over on fourteen, Mickelson has found himself in some serious trouble with an error #2734 paper jam... pic.twitter.com/HDIAg6H4Ei
— David Romilly (@romilly_david) May 11, 2018
Phil has a shirt that he can wear to work and is having a round that suggests he should have stayed in the office.
— Doug Ferguson (@dougferguson405) May 10, 2018
He had this to say after that opening, 7-over 79 on Thursday:
"We have short sleeves, too," Mickelson said. "We have polos and stuff. This stuff is stretchy. You don't even know it's on. It's very comfortable. So I actually really like it. I think nobody does kind of 'slightly overweight middle-aged guy' better than me, and this says exactly who I am. I don't know what to say. I'm really happy with it. I think you shouldn't knock Mizzen+Main until you try Mizzen+Main. It's the best stuff out there."
"Slightly overweight middle-aged guy," come on. Who's better than Phil?
No matter what you think of the look, it's one we'll be seeing on Phil a lot this year. And would you really want it any other way?
As part of Mickelson's long-term deal with Mizzen+Main, he's now an equity holder in the company.
As usual, Phil's laughing all the way to the bank.
We all might be chuckling now, but... If Mickelson were to win the green jacket next April, a button-down shirt for the green jacket ceremony would undoubtedly make him the sharpest looking Masters champ of all time.
