Mickelson on His Commercial Dance Moves: ‘It’s Fun to Laugh at Yourself’

AKRON, Ohio — In case you haven’t heard, Phil Mickelson isn’t afraid to take a risk.

This usually comes in the form of Lefty trying to squeeze an approach between two tree limbs during a competitive round. But he recently proved that he’s not scared to get out of his comfort zone off the course, either.

His latest television commercial for Mizzen + Main, released Thursday, depicts Mickelson wearing one of the company’s dress shirts, while dancing (even doing the worm!) and eluding golf balls on a driving range.

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And yes, it’s as great and terrible as it sounds, all wrapped in one neat 30-second package.

Watch for yourself

Following an opening-round 4-under 66 at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, where he wasn’t wearing the long-sleeve button-down, Mickelson spoke about the making of the advertisement.

“They showed some of the videos like they had done like with Tim Tebow and J.J. Watt and they said, ‘We have this idea about dancing,’” he explained. “Obviously, it's not the thing I'm most comfortable doing. But then Amy said, ‘You should just tell them that you know how to do the worm.’ So after she said that, it was over, we were doing it.

“I think it's fun to laugh at yourself and certainly that's what I'm doing in this commercial, because it was a lot of work just to get those moves out of me.”

Mickelson didn’t stop smiling the entire time he spoke about the commercial shoot, which took place in San Diego last month and lasted “about an hour,” including maybe 20 different takes.

He indicated that, sure, he could’ve rejected the idea, but enjoyed the challenge of it.

“I could’ve said no, but what’s the point of that?” he laughed. “When you have these moves, you have to show them off.”

Mickelson admitted his three children were probably a bit embarrassed by their dad — “How can you not be, you know? I'm sure they are, but they're also used to it.” — but they also helped him pare down his moves from a list of outtakes.

That’s right — somewhere, there exists footage of the dance moves that didn’t make the final cut. As for his fellow players, many of them were giggling about the commercial after the first round.

One of them said, “Oh man, this is so awkward. Who thought this was a good idea?" Another proclaimed, “That commercial is so bad it’s good. But I love it, because it’s him.”

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Mickelson said he’d yet to speak with many of his peers about it, but Bubba Watson did ask for dance lessons.

“I’ll do privates,” Mickelson said, clearly milking the moment. “For the right price.”

Of course, he wasn’t just dancing for fun. Phil has product to push, so before he completed his post-round interview session, he couldn’t help but offer a plug.

“I had a lot of fun doing it,” he said. “It just really shows and demonstrates how comfortable and versatile the shirt really is.”