Golfer Phil Mickelson while meeting at Torrey Pines Golf Course last night to discuss renovation plans, said that he has "withdrawn his interest" in being a minority owner in the Padres, according to Tod Leonard of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. Mickelson said, "I've been born and raised here, but at this moment I'm not able to make that kind of long-term commitment to the city and to the team." Mickelson said he notified the Padres "within the last six weeks" that he would not be joining (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 12/19). The AP's Bernie Wilson reported Mickelson feels the O'Malley and Seidler families, who bought the Padres along with Liquid Investments Chair & CEO Ron Fowler, "have the depth of commitment the city needs." Mickelson's spokesperson T.R. Reinman said that the golfer feels he "can't match that level of commitment, at this point." Mickelson had spoken "excitedly about the possibility of joining the ownership group." When the Seidler/O'Malley group formally announced the $800M purchase of the team in August, Padres ownership group member Peter Seidler said that "there was one spot left in the ownership group and it was being held for Mickelson" (AP, 12/18).
