Phil Mickelson 'is that annoying friend,' Charles Barkley jokes
Barkley finished toward the bottom of the leaderboard in last year's event
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Charles Barkley hopes to be like Phil Mickelson in next month’s American Century Championship – the top celebrity golf tournament that is held annually in Nevada – and find a way to the top of the leaderboard.
At the event’s media day on Saturday, Barkley spoke at length about Mickelson and his friendship with the reigning PGA Championship winner.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Phil Mickelson is a great friend of mine. I've known him a long time, him and Amy. They're awesome. But Phil is that annoying friend," Barkley said, via Golf Channel. "When you ask him a question, instead of answering your question – like, if you said, 'Hey, what's the weather like,' he says, 'You want the humidity, the barometric pressure, the high and low for the day?' No, man, I just want the damn weather. Tell me what the temperature is right now.
"So, even though as great a guy he is when you ask him a question, it's like, yo, what do you think of this putt? ‘Well, it's down grain, it's into the grain, it's going to pull towards the valley.’ Yo, man, just tell me where to hit the putt. I ain't got time to be analyzing down grain, up grain. It's pulling toward the valley."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Barkley said he was "happy" for Mickelson and that nobody saw "Lefty" winning another major.
"… People were concentrating so much on Phil being 50, they're like, Yo, man, he stood on the first tee with Brooks Koepka, who is probably the most intimidating player out there right now. And for him to hold his own against Brooks, you've got to be, like, not only was he 50, he stood up to Brooks. So that was pretty impressive," he added.
The event has been held each year at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course at Lake Tahoe since 1990.
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Former MLB pitcher Rick Rhoden has won the event eight times. Former NFL star Tony Romo won the event in 2018 and 2019. Ex-tennis star Mardy Fish won the event last year. Barkley finished 69th last year.