Lorne Rubenstein

It will be interesting to see how much Mickelson elaborates on his comments when he speaks to the media at Torrey Pines, the site of the Farmers Insurance Open. PGA Tour players are not known for getting on a podium to discuss their political views. But, clearly, Mickelson is aggrieved. He’s not happy that Obama is setting off on his second term, given its implications for his personal financial situation. He’s not happy about Proposition 30. Will he back off his comments? Or will he go deeper?

Here’s the transcript of Mickelson’s interview on Sunday. More to come this week, or so he has said.

Q.  When you're asked about Stricker's semi retirement, with the political situation the last couple months, blah, blah, blah, what did you mean by that?  Do you find it an unsettling time in a way?

PHIL MICKELSON:  Well, it's been an interesting offseason.  And I'm going to have to make some drastic changes.  I'm not going to jump the gun and do it right away, but I will be making some drastic changes.

Q.  Meaning leaving from California?

PHIL MICKELSON:  I'm not sure.

Q.  Moving to Canada?

PHIL MICKELSON:  I'm not sure what exactly, you know, I'm going to do yet.  I'll probably talk about it more in depth next week.  I'm not going to jump the gun, but there are going to be some.  There are going to be some drastic changes for me because I happen to be in that zone that has been targeted both federally and by the state and, you know, it doesn't work for me right now.  So I'm going to have to make some changes.

Q.  Is that a correlation between that and what happened to the Padres?

PHIL MICKELSON:  Yeah.

Q.  With you?

PHIL MICKELSON:  Absolutely.

Q.  So why do you say next week?  What is going to happen so drastic next week?

PHIL MICKELSON:  No, but I'll probably be in the media center and I'll probably be a little more open to it because San Diego is where a lot more things, it's where I live, it's where the Padre thing was a possibility, and it's where my family is.  And it just seems like a better fit than right here off of 18 on Palm Springs.

Q.  Is it a stance that you are taking because on the one hand, you've made a lot of money, and no matter how much they take out, you are left with a lot of money?

PHIL MICKELSON:  Yeah.  I'll probably go into it more next year or next week.  But if you add up, if you add up all the federal and you look at the disability and the unemployment and the Social Security and the state, my tax rate's 62, 63 percent.  So I've got to make some decisions on what I'm going to do.

Q.  How do you balance that against the TOUR's retirement plan which by all standards is the best retirement plan in sports?

PHIL MICKELSON:  I don't understand.  What do you mean?

Q.  Well, I mean I understand the 60 percent part of the equation, but in the TOUR's plan, you guys put about as much money aside as you want.  It's treated differently under tax laws than most anybody else's tax plans.  Where most people can only put away $45,000 or $50,000, you guys can put as much away as you want.  And so at the end you guys end up with a much larger pot of gold than most people can.

PHIL MICKELSON:  But when it comes out, it's still taxed at the same 62 percent rate.

Q.  Well, you're still making that kind of money.  That's if you're still in that bracket.

PHIL MICKELSON: (No response.)

RELATED LINK: More blogs from Lorne Rubenstein