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Phil Being Phil

Kevin Kisner reveals the 'weirdest sh--' Phil Mickelson had him doing at the 2017 Presidents Cup

January 10, 2024
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Sam Greenwood

Man, it's been a minute since we heard a good "Phil being Phil" story. It's also been a while since we've thought about the 2017 Presidents Cup, which is probably most remembered for Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth singing "Si-Woo shakin' that ass" at a rowdy winner's press conference after an absolute blowout at Liberty National. But thanks to Kevin Kisner, we get to revisit both.

Fresh off his solid TV debut for NBC Sports at the Sentry, the three-time PGA Tour winner hopped on the Smylie Show with Smylie Kaufman. And he told an all-time wild tale involving that Presidents Cup, Phil Mickelson, and an astronomer. Yep, an astronomer.

Well, actually, we're not quite sure if he meant astronomer or astrologer, but either way, it's an unbelievable tale. Essentially, Kisner was paired with Mickelson that week based on the advice an "astronomer" gave to Phil, which he passed along to Team USA captain Steve Stricker. But it gets weirder from there.

According to Kisner, this "astronomer" also told Phil to have Kisner face him on every shot so he could "pull energy" from his belly (which could explain why the pair was doing that "Three Amigos" dance all week). Told you this was a wild one. Anyway, here's how Kisner tells it:

"This is the weirdest sh-- I've ever done in my life." Incredible stuff—especially since it seemed to work.

That being said, Stricker could have picked his pairings blindfolded and the Americans would have still won easily. Oh, and Kisner and Phil didn't "drum" Jason Day and Marc Leishman that day, they actually halved the match. But hey, don't let the truth get in the way of a good story, right? Kiz is going to make a great TV guy with those kind of tales.