Charley Hoffman
“When I was 9 years old I was at a San Diego junior golf banquet and he was this 16-year-old player of the year and he was the kid that gave the speech. And we all knew who he was. And he was the same guy you know now back then, rattling off jokes he thought were funny and he would laugh at himself more than anyone else would laugh and he hasn’t changed one iota since then. Phil is funny. It’s a quirky funny. But he knows he’s quirky. He likes laughing at his own jokes more than people are laughing at his jokes.
“People know how great his short game is, but I think people forget how great of an iron player Phil is. He’s still got many great years in front of him. His driving has never been his strength, but he can hit any shot no matter where his drive went. And he could be so aggressive because he knew he could get it up and down out of a garbage can. So he shot at every pin. He’s almost better at the harder shots than the easy shots. And the thing I admire the most about Phil is his work ethic. He plays more golf than anybody. And he wants to win everything no matter what it is. But his worth ethic is off the charts. If I was nearly 50 and I’ve won this many majors and all those Tour wins and have millions of dollars, would I be working this hard on an off week? I don’t think the answer would be yes, but I work harder because I see his work ethic. It is second to none.”
Kevin Kisner
“I’m a big Phil Mickelson fan. He is what I would call the epitome of what all the greatest players of all time all have is the big self-belief in themselves. They know they can get out of any situation and they can win in any situation.
“And the Presidents Cup (in 2017), when we teamed up for three matches (they went 2-0-1) meant a lot to me. I think Phil asked to play with me because it wasn’t even in the cards until they came out with the pairings on Wednesday and I saw we were playing together. Phil knew I was driving it really well and putting it really well at the time and he felt he was hitting his irons great so we’d be a good team. Any time a great player wants to play with you it’s an awesome feeling. Through my career I’ve gone up each level and never really thought I was on top of everything until the last few years, and every new experience, you’re trying to prove yourself, so when somebody like that picks you and wants to be your partner you feel you have proven yourself.
“And I’m known out there to be witty and smart and a trash talker and Phil’s in the same boat. So we go back and forth when we play together needling each other. One time he said something and I fired right back at him and he had nothing to say. On the next hole I hear him tell Bones, ‘I just can never quite get this kid Kisner. He always has a comeback.’”