Ouch! Phil Disses Bermuda

So much for Mickelson. Despite my last ditch effort to get the Masters champion to Bermuda—an open letter to Phil explaining why he should come play the PGA Grand Slam of Golf at Port Royal—Lefty has officially shut the door on any hope of seeing him in October. According to multiple reports across the web, Mickelson is choosing not to play the Grand Slam because of “a hectic late-season schedule and a diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis,” so says ESPN’s Golf Blog. I understand if the guy is hurt, but the whole thing sounds fishy to me. After all, Mickelson is slated to play the Ryder Cup on October 1 plus two events in Asia before calling the season quits. Which begs the question: Why does Phil hate Bermuda? For starters let’s consider Rex Hoggard’s reasons on the Shag Bag, a Golf Channel blog that suggests, among other reasons, that Mickelson’s skipping the Slam because, “the San Diego Chargers are at home that week, Tiger Woods plans on being in the gallery and he doesn’t look good in Bermuda shorts.” Possible, but my guess is that he’s really not into beautiful island destinations less than two hours from most east coast gateways. Whatever. Looks like I’ll be cheering for Ernie Els this year.