As a man who loves cheeseburgers, I'm not taking sides on Phil Mickelson's recent assertion that Five Guys burgers are "hands down the best burger" he's ever had. I'm a fan of all burgers as long as they don't have mayonnaise on them.
What's interesting is that Mickelson's apparently off the cuff endorsement of the burger chain last week at The Players Championship wasn't entirely random. Mickelson, it turns out, is part of a group that owns the franchise rights to Five Guys in Orange County, Cal.
Stewart Cink passed that information along to Associated Press golf writer Doug Ferguson recently and, according to various reports, it's true. Good for Mickelson. He's reportedly looked into getting In-N-Out franchises and Waffle House franchises in the past. Now he's into Five Guys which will apparently soon challenge In-N-Out in SoCal.
I admire Mickelson for admitting his fondness for burgers. Makes him more of a regular guy.
He's spoken in the past about his fondness for In-N-Out burgers, a California classic and, having had a few of their burgers, I get where he's coming from. Now it's Five Guys. I get where he's coming from there, too.
If Phil wants to throw in a little burger endorsement, I don't have a problem with it. Tiger used to always put a bottle of his Tiger Gatorade on the table during his interviews. No problem with that, either. Having been around NASCAR long enough, golf's sponsor recognition is downright subtle.
And, if Phil wants to talk about burgers, I'll listen. It's a lot more interesting than talking about the new grooves.