Who are the nicest players on tour? Who are the ones that respond to you when you say good shot and not just ignore you? I'm looking for some more players to pull for besides tiger, anthony, ernie, and big john.

Zach Johnson...super nice.

your right with zach johnson. I got to caddy for him two summers ago a few months after he won the masters and he was real nice and answered all kinds of questions about the tour and such. He tipped me 80 dollars so that was nice.
this past summer i got to caddy for brandt snedeker and he was the same way. He was really nice and he was a lot more honest on the questions I asked. I asked him about certain players on the tour and he had some very surprising answers. Let's just say after talking with him about phil, I've decided I don't won't phil to ever win again.

^ Please share more about Phil. I've heard rumors that a lot of the guys don't like him, but nothing specific - can you share more of what Brandt said? Thanks...

I can't say the exact words he used(they wouldn't be appropiate on a forum). But he said that the fans and the players see two different sides of him. That he seems like a nice guy that really appreciates the fans, but in the locker room he is really stuck up and doesn't conversate with the players. He said sometimes he doesn't even use the players locker room with all the other players. He said everything he does is fake. I asked him about sabbatini and I could tell he liked sabbatini a whole lot more than phil.

Thanks. Pretty much the same exact things I've heard.

Justin Rose is very personable and genuine. Talked a little with him while he was practicing before the Buick Open

Trevor Immelman was real nice to me...
last year at Innisbrook here...he talked to me through a few holes in his practice round..
and the after the round stopped right next to me (this is all without me asking him) took a ball out, signed it.. gave it to me...shook my hand talked for a minute or two and told me
what time he was teeing off so I could come and see him on Friday...then I saw him on Friday during the tournament he recognized me and said hey real quick..pretty awesome..this was before the Masters victory

David Toms and Todd Hamilton are very nice guys. Signing autographs they would actually talk to you and look you in the eyes and say thank you for coming out.

+1 on Zach Johnson, David Toms, and Todd Hamilton. Super nice guys. If you want David Toms to talk to you, ask him about LSU football.

Other good guys I've either met, caddied for, or caddied in the same group. Each one of these fellows just could not have been nicer:

Craig Stadler
Peter Jacobsen
Aaron Baddeley
Brett Wetterich
Scott Verplank
Paul Casey
Steve Stricker

I don't know him and I don't know anyone that does, but I'd say Boo Weekley would be a very nice guy. He seems genuine and I've never met someone who loves hunting and fishing that wasn't nice and easy to talk to. Take "deerslayer" for example, he's always willing to help people out on here and seems quite personable. I don't know what it is about huntin' and fishin' but it makes for good comraderie.

I heard Phil is like Eddie Haskell.

Last year at the Memorial, a buddy and I watched Stewart Cink play the last 6 holes on the front 9. We got to interact with him and his caddy most of the way. The crowds were very thin because they teed off on both sides on the weekend. He was very genuine and friendly towards us.

Met and chatted to Retief Goosen when he was playing a tournament. He seemed happy to talk between holes and thanked me for following his group when we got to the 18th. Absolutely top bloke.

Also had a joke with Adam Scott after a miraculous escape from a very stony lie in trees where he put a groove across the bottom of his iron on a stone. Mind you he still got the ball on the green from about 170 yards out. That was mid round and he was still friendly.

I have to say

Jim Furyk and KJ Choi


I saw Furyk a couple of year ago at the Heritage (Hilton Head, SC) and he was very nice and giving out
autographs to little kids around him on putting green


KJ was in Masters and saw him at the restaurant off Dean's Bridge road
He had bad day at the tournament but he was nice and smile did the autograph and took pictures

If I am having a bad day at the tournament, I don't think I would appreciate people invading my dinner
but pros are pros

However, Tiger was very hard to approach because of too many people around him and
he is in his own zone I guess

I heard the similar claim from the pro at my home course.
Of course it is not fair to judge someone by the rumors so I don't judge him (not like I know the guy in person)
but that is just what I heard too.

Phil signs more autographs and hands out more golf balls to kids than anyone out there. If he's not friendly towards the other players I would attribute it to the fact that they are the competition and perhaps to a certain January 2006 article in GQ magazine.

If you don't mind, what was the article about?


Just curious

My personal experiences with these players have been outstanding:

Dan Forsman
Olin Browne
Brad Faxon
Stewart Cink
Notah Begay
Kenny Perry
Rocco Mediate

Because I don't want to perpetuate the unverified double hearsay contained in a tabloid-esque article from a magazine known more for their fashion reporting than for their sports articles, I won't post the link here. But the article was about the ten most hated athletes, of which Mickelson was ranked #8. It created an absolute phenomenon of Phil haters as can be seen on the many threads which treat this topic on this forum and on other websites. The sad thing is that it is all b.s. and most of the anti Mickelson brigade cite things like the fact that he is always smiling or his "man-boobs" as the primary reasons why they don't like him.

IMO, Phil is one of the more personable players out there. He interacts with fans. And if the haters can get over it they would see that regardless of whether he shares a locker room with the other guys or not, the PGA needs more players like Phil who don't act like robots out there.

Everyone has heard it from a "reliable source" but its funny how nobody can cite any first hand experiences.

Its nothing more than a nasty persistent rumor perpetuated by jealous haters. I'm not saying you're one of them, but unless you saw him, first hand, doing something wrong (which nobody has) I strongly question the credibility of the rumor.

The worst part is that now someone will read this post and claim they have a "reliable" source.

I like Phil for his talent, but saw firsthand some bad behavior when the cameras weren't around.
The walk from the putting green and the practice range at Westchester CC is long and through the public parking lot. A 10-year-old and his dad were walking in the parking lot and Phil walks buy alone with his putter. The kid says hi and asks Phil for his autograph...Phil snapped at him-"not now, kid, can't you see I'm working!". The dad-and his kid-were shocked. Phil could have taken 2 seconds and had two fans for life.

Nathan Green. He practices where I do and I was hitting a couple spots over from him and he came over and was giving me some tips. Pretty nice to take time away from practicing to give some instruction to a junior. Also in typical WRX'er fashion, we talked equipment.

Todd Hamilton is the nicest guy out there I've met. A few years ago at The Players during a rain delay instead of going to the clubhouse with the other players he went to the volunteers tent and shook every persons hand thanking them for staying in the rain and helping out and then played cards and what not with the kids. Very genuine guy.

This is quite funny. Everything everyone has sited as a reason why player X is "nice" (signing balls/autographs, talking to pro-am partners, engaging with the crowd, etc, etc) Mickelson does in spades. Yet he's the only one who is a "fake" for doing it?

Who cares if a mid level player gets his feelings hurt because Mickelson doesn't chum it up in the locker room. I don't remember hearing any stories of Tiger snapping towels and playing grabass in the locker room.

Mickelson must be one hell of a faker because fake signing more autographs than anyone, fake tipping more than anyone, fake giving a spectator his Rolex after hitting him, fake tossing balls to kids DURING a round, and fake answering every retarded question from the press is one whale of an act.

We're fortunate enough to have a Tour player at our club, and his account of Mickelson is as personable and friendly as they come. He did say that he is an unbelievable tipper to the folks who work the tournaments. Said it's not uncommon for him to tip $1K at the end of the week to the guy who takes care of the shoes. Some players feel shown up by that which is one of the sources of the resentment.

He goes out of his way for the patrons, kids, volunteers, sponsors, and to a large extent, the press. What a chump.

Met Stewart Cink that the U.S. Open in 2006. Super nice guy. He was on the putting green and he came over to us and talked with us for awhile.

Also, shockingly, Justin Leonard doesn't seem to be a very nice person, despite his religiosity.

David Toms and Jonathan Byrd are super nice guys.

I got to ride around in the cart with David Toms for 9 holes during a pro am a few years ago and I would have thought i was talking to one of my buddies. We talked college football, clubs, shafts, women (he was scouting out volunteers for me, not him!), etc. Very cool guy.

And my brother has played with Jonathan Byrd a few times (friends with a friend) and I got to do pretty much the same with Jonathan that I did with Toms. I rode with Jonathan while they played. He's not as animated as Toms, but he's certainly an incredibly nice and genuine person. I picked his brain a lot about golf equipment. I think he had 5 or 6 different drivers in his bag. He also shared a lot of stories about his sponsorships and all the crazy amounts of stuff he gets in the mail from Polo, Mizuno, FootJoy, etc.

Jeff Maggert, Adam Scott, Tom Watson, David Toms were the nicest I have had the pleasure to meet.

All I have to say is, Don Johnson in Tin Cup and Shooter McGavin in Happy Gilmore

PS - you cannot tell me that his perma-smirk on his face does not drive you crazy!!! it does me...

I learned as a child to reserve judgment until I see, first hand, someone demean their own character. I know people who can't stand Phil and when I ask why, the answer is always the same: "There's just something about the guy." I think someone said it yesterday in another thread that he's probably more awkward than snobby. I can totally see that.

But hey, at least in theory we're all adults.

Ive been to a few tournaments including the US Open at Oakmont. I didnt personally talk to any players, but Jim Furyk and Vijay Singh seemed to be enjoying the fans. At some other tournaments, Jason Day and Brett Wetterich seemed like nice guys and acknowledged the fans. Jason Day got quite a following and through balls into the crowd at the 84 Lumber Classic on Saturday a fwe years ago.

Huh? I dont understand this comment at all........you are shocked that a religious person is nice? Except for a few extremists that spread hatred and terror which is maybe .00001% of the religious people in the world, from my experience that is a very odd statement.

Luke Donald and Will MAckenzie are both very freindly and easy to talk to. I met Luke 3 summers ago and bump into him occasionaly. Alwlays freindly, and is happy to see you.

Will Mackenzie is also very freindly. has a new born and was at the practice range down in FL with him a month back or so - jsut having a great time with his little guy (i think its a guy). very proud showing him off and very easy to talk to. in fact he jsut sat down and joined my pops for lunch one day as they were both the only ones in the lunch room. hada good convo etc.

I've volunteered at our tournament for over 20 years and have interactions with just about every player mentioned in this thread. Some of them I've gotten to know pretty well over the years and others I consider friends. Taking the friends out of the equation, I'd say my favorites of the current players are:

Furyk
Cink
Bohn (maybe the funniest guy on tour)
Petterson
Toms

My favorite player who's now a senior is Tom Watson. You couldn't meet a more genuine guy.

I'd say 99% of the guys are great. In 20+ years, I've had very few negative experiences and many there were extremely positive.

I pull for all the guys I listed above and all of the guys who live here locally. I don't really pull against anyone, but there are some I don't care to see win (is that the most politically correct way to put that).

By the way, I know he makes an a** of himself and many here don't like him, but Sabatinni is a very nice guy. In fact, all of my interactions with him have been very positive. Those interactions have been both as a tournament volunteer and seeing him at charity events here in Fort Worth. We have many common friends, so that may be part of it, but I liked him before he moved to Fort Worth. In my opinion, he's a very good guy who might let his mouth get him in trouble occasionally.

From the ones I've actually met and talked to, spent time with, etc.:

Harrington is super nice, awesome personality and amazing guy
Fred Funk was awesome! he took the time out of his practice round to talk with me for almost half a hole at Augusta in 2007
Ernie Els is also very very personable, talks to the fans, acknowledges you, etc.

The ones I have a dislike for because of personality:

Davis Love III- I've come in contact with him twice both times signing autographs for kids where he didn't once say a word, looked down and signed as quick as possible to get out of there, just didn't seem like he was personable.

He's the only player I've come into contact with who always seemed like he was better than you or above you in some way.


As someone else said, I don't think Phil gets the credit he deserves for being such an amazing ambassador for the PGA Tour. He couldn't be a more giving person, he always signs every autograph, thanks EVERYONE possible and is just a joy to be around always seems to be in a good mood and rightly so.

Who cares how Phil supposedly treats his peeers. He obviously treats those who pay his bills very well and that is all that should really matter.

a lot easier to name the ones that aren't as opposed to name the ones that are. I'd say 95% of the guys out there are "personable".

Rather than saying "so and so are @$$holes" or "so and so are cool", I'll make a couple little lists in a different way:

Guys that I don't pull for are Curtis Strange, Lee Janzen, Justin Leonard (except during the Ryder Cup when I pull for all Americans).

I really pull for Camilo, Snedeker, Justin Rose, Boo Weekley.

Take those lists to mean whatever you like...

As far as high profile guys, I'd say approaching Phil, AK, Ogilvy, Scott, Kenny Perry, Jim Furyk, Zach Johnson, would all be safe bets. All those guys are on the "most personable" end of the line.

mgranato summed it up perfectly and thats your response? The fact that he has a smile on his face is the biggest issue you have with him? Jeez...

As far as I can tell, his biggest detriment (for many here) would be the fact that he is not Tiger Woods. And the trickle down effect is the constant searching for character flaws such as "man boobs" or "his gee-whiz smile" or "too tight attire". I mean, no sooner was his picture put up on THIS website's homepage yesterday that a thread was started regarding how "goofy" he looked.

In the end, we all have certain players we root for- I happen to enjoy PM's game(amongst others). My wife, Tiger Woods. Whatever the reasons, makes no bit of difference. Thats not to say I havent been caught up in a spirited debate about the two- it happens. But if it ever gets to the point where hair style and body fat are part of said debate, take this laptop away from me for good.

Calc is a really nice guy. When I was at the US Open at Olympia Fields, I was there when he knocked one in from about 150 out. He ran over and high fived my friends and I and started talking with us. Very personable guy. My favorite statement from that conversation: "If I could just do that more often, this game would be so much easier."

If it's easy for you to compare him to those characters or if his facial expression bothers you, that sounds like a you problem

What I get a kick out of is how guys who ONLY see the public persona of any of these players can make judgements as to which are fake. He's got planes, cars, homes, fame, extreme wealth, beautiful healthy family, and gets to play golf for a living - what expression would you have on your face?

Not saying I'm pro or anti Phil (like others have said I have absolutely no first hand knowledge) but I couldn't disagree more with this. Treating the people who pay your bills well is a good business decision. Treating people well who don't have an influence on your finances or benefit you in any way, is a sign of who you are as a person. Surely that matters?

Wow. How DARE Phil have a smile on his face! I mean the nerve of the guy, enjoying getting paid to play golf.



Here's a nice encounter I had last year w/ Ben Crenshaw.

At the Wednesday Masters practice round, I was near the practice range in the early afternoon when there weren't very many players over there. Was trying to decide where to go next and I ran right into Ben Crenshaw, nearly knocked him over. After my profuse apologies, he stopped and talked to me for what seemed like 15 minutes but it was probably more like 3 or 5. No one else was around. It was really cool to talk with him - he was very animated in talking about how Augusta had given him the key to the city. He was just floored by it and said it was one of the neatest things that had happened to him. I tried to be funny and told him I'd work on getting him the key to Atlanta if I could have a putting lesson. He thought that was funny. I didn't ask him to sign anything (I didn't have anything with me for him to sign...) but I saw his caddy coming (BTW - his caddy Carl is a LARGE man!) so I shook his hand and thanked him for taking the time to talk with me. What a great guy.

This was at the Wachovia a couple years ago:

Luke Donald and Henrik Stenson were playing together in a practice round. We were sitting right off the par 5 2nd hole when they were leaving the green and we stopped Luke Donald to get a picture. We asked him if he caught the Champions League game the night before and he stood there and talked about the Champions League for 5-10 minutes. In fact, Stenson had already teed off on the par 3 and was waiting for Donald when he finally yelled over "are we playing golf today?" Donald shook both of our hands and headed off to the tee.

Next, Adam Scott hit it left of the green right where we were sitting on the same par 3. He was in prison with where this pin was positioned and when he came up, I chirped up "Adam, if you keep this one on the green you should consider it a success." He looks at me and says "Keep it on the green? I am trying to make it." I laughed and said "Beers are on me if you make it." Son of a **** sunk it! I couldn't believe it! We all stood up and hi-fived him and I said "what kind of beer would you like?" He said, how about you give me a dollar instead. I pulled a dollar out of my pocket and he asked his caddie for a sharpie and wrote on it "This is an IOU for beers for Adam Scott. Signed, Adam Scott" He said, "Hold on to this and I'll take it you up on it someday."

Both experiences were very cool.

I couldn't disagree more with the above statement.

I feel that how someone treats those "below" them on the social ladder speaks directly to their personhood. I have little respect for those who treat wait staff, warehouse workers, municipal and commercial clerks, housekeeping staff, etc. poorly. As Huxley said in Brave New World: someone has to run the elevators. A nation of Alphas cannot function; each one of them would want to be in charge.

The proper term for someone who treats those who pay his bills very well and feels that this is all that should really matter is toady. Or perhaps sycophant.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/toady
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sycophant

As a lifetime fat man living in the USA, body fat is ALWAYS part of any such debate. If you have ever been fat for an extended period in your life, you would understand this all too well. And too personally.

There are two things a fat man in the USA can't get easily: a promotion and sex.

Calc - when I first met him, I thought he was very full of himself. It was shortly after his British Open win. I have met and spoke with him on several occassions since, and have revised my first impression. He has grown up and is a really nice guy.

David Toms - I have heard bad things, but I think he is one of the nicest players I've met. Loves to talk equipment and football.

Olin Brown - One of the good guys. Just don't approach if he just made a double bogey.

Many, many other nice guys out there. I have seen very little rudeness. Only two players come to mind. They do not need to be mentioned.

That is EXTREMELY hard to believe.

Sounds like a line form a movie, pretty sure you just made this up.

It was in reference to a Tiger/Phil debate- for me, its not really relevant to the discussion. Thats not to say you didn't bring up a serious issue...

There is a time and place for everything. If this was during the tournament, meaning Thursday through Sunday, Phil should have been left to himself. When the game is on, that's it. He could have handled it a little better but this does not surprise me at all.