Texas Children's Houston Open

Memorial Park Golf Course



Phil flexes his acting chops

By Tim Rosaforte Illustrations by Julien Pacaud
July 01, 2008
magazine-2008-08-maar01_tourtalk.jpg

By the time he gets to the PGA Championship, Phil Mickelson might need a Screen Actors Guild card. He's getting a lot of air time lately, including as star of a series of commercials for Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts. One spot has several Mickelson look-alikes telling him how they cope with mistaken identity. The commercials are part of a one-year contract Mickelson signed with the chain. Naturally, Lefty played in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial in May and won the tournament with a dramatic final-hole birdie from the trees. Mickelson also recently spent two days taping an episode for one of his favorite TV shows, HBO's "Entourage." Because the show is for adults, Mickelson said he won't allow his children to watch the scene, which was taped on a golf course and includes Academy Award winner Martin Landau. It will air in September. . . . Annika Sorenstam made a cameo at the Colonial — five years after her historic participation in the PGA Tour event. Sorenstam, 37, who recently said this would be her last season on the LPGA Tour, didn't rule out the possibility of a return by telling fans she never used the "R" word, as in retirement. Still, her old friend Tiger Woods called to wish her well. "He was happy for me. Then he said, 'You beat me to it.' I said, 'That's one of the few things I'll ever beat you at.' " Typical Tiger, she said: "Has to compete at everything." . . . Paul Goydos could have cashed in on his runner-up finish at the Players Championship. Although he renewed an endorsement deal with Hertz, he refused to give up the Long Beach State logo on the front of his hat and sell that spot. Goydos is an alum. His father worked at the school for 25 years, and his mother still lives across the street from the campus.