Mickelson Had Perfect Pitch, No Flop Sweat

Tina Mickelson was watching at home in San Diego on Monday when her brother Phil flopped that chip shot out of the rough to two feet from the pin on the 18th hole of the PGA Championship.

“I’ve never seen him celebrate a chip shot like that,” Tina Mickelson said. “I knew there was no way he was not going to make the putt.”

Trivia time: Why does Mickelson, who does everything else right-handed, play golf left-handed?

It’s in the bag: Shortly after earning $572,000 by tying for second at the PGA Championship, Steve Elkington was on Jim Rome’s radio talk show, where he is a frequent guest.

When Rome asked him what he planned to do with his winnings, Elkington said, “It’s going in the big bag. The bottom of the big bag is almost covered with money.”

Learning end-zone dances: USC’s Matt Leinart already has enough credits to graduate, so, according to KMPC’s Petros Papadakis, he has signed up to take only one course this fall -- ballroom dancing.

“And if it improves the quarterback’s footwork,” wrote Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times, “instructors are bracing for a late rush of 300-pounders into Line Dancing 101.”

He may catch it: Mike Williams, the former USC receiver now with the Detroit Lions, doesn’t think 19 months away from football should hurt him.

“If you’re an accountant or you’re a lawyer and you leave [the business] for a year, it doesn’t mean you don’t know how to lie to people,” Williams told the Detroit Free Press.

Added Williams: “My mom is going to kill me. She’s a lawyer.”

A direct hit: DirecTV, as part of its NFL Sunday Ticket, is offering a “Short Cuts” package of edited half-hour games. Dan Daly of the Washington Times, noting that the package costs $99, added: “Except for O.J. Simpson, who gets it for free.”

A quick turnaround: Former heavyweight champion Michael Moorer, who retired in April, said on ESPN2 at 6:03 p.m. Friday that he had changed his mind and was coming back. At 6:40, ringside analyst Teddy Atlas asked Moorer to reconsider and stay retired.

Moorer agreed to take Atlas’ advice and said he would remain retired, thus setting what’s believed to be a record for shortest comeback, 37 minutes.

Looking back: On this day in 1992, Nick Price made a 25-foot putt on the 16th hole and a 12-footer on the 17th to win the PGA Championship by three shots and earn $280,000.

Trivia answer: When his father showed him how to swing a club when he was 18 months old, Mickelson mirrored what his dad did.

And finally: While driving a bulldozer on his ranch in Hempstead, Texas, this month, A.J. Foyt stirred up a nest of about 200 bees and was stung dozens of times. But he was back to work two days later.

Of the stinging incident, Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote that the bees called it “trading paint.”

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Larry Stewart can be reached at [email protected].