Phil Mickelson is one of the best golfers in the world and one of the most recognizable athletes, but even he has to deal with taxes like everyone else.
According to ESPN.com, Mickelson said on Sunday that he plans to make "drastic changes" due to federal and California state tax increases.
"It's been an interesting offseason," Mickelson said after the final round of the Humana Challenge to ESPN.com. "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."
Mickelson shot a final round 66 and finished in a tie for 37th place at the Humana Challenge in partnership with the Clinton Foundation. The Hall of Fame golfer did not go into too much detail about the changes, but said that it could include a move from San Diego, where he currently resides.
"I'm not sure what exactly I'm going to do yet. I'll probably talk about it more in-depth later this week (The Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego)," he said.
Mickelson spoke to USA Today about some of the possible changes, mainly stemming from the tax structure in his home state as well as around the nation.
"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 it doesn't work for me right now," Mickelson said.
The article describes how Mickelson said the changes to the tax numbers forced him to withdraw from a potential minority stake in the San Diego Padres, who were purchased by an ownership group for $800 million last year. Mickelson could retire to help with all the issues, but that does not seem to be an option for the Hall of Fame-caliber golfer. He has three children with his wife that are a young age, meaning he may not want to just pick up and move because of the tax issues.
"San Diego is where a lot more things, it's where I live, it's where the Padres thing was a possibility, and it's where my family is," Mickelson said. "And it just seems like a better fit than right here off of 18 on Palm Springs."
According to ESPN.com, in November, voters in California voted for Proposition 30, which increased state taxes for the first time in nearly 10 years. According to the report, the vote boosted the state tax rate on incomes of more than $1 million from 10.3 percent to 13.3 percent.
According to the Wall Street Journal, rates on single incomes of more than $400,000 will go from 35 percent to 39.6 percent, while the Social Security tax will be raised from 4.2 percent to 6.2 percent.
"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," Mickelson said
Mickelson made his season debut at the tournament over the weekend, which was his first competition since playing in November at the HSBC Champions in China.
"I was rusty starting the year," Mickelson said. "I had a great four days here where I can work on my game with perfect weather and wonderful golf courses, where I could build some momentum. Heading into San Diego, I feel a lot more confident."
Mickelson's shaky start coincided with the starts for two other big-name players in Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, who both missed the cut at the Abu Dhabi Championship after shooting a 75 on Friday.
Woods shot a second round at 1-over 73, but was penalized two shots after he made a mistake and thought he had a free drop when his ball landed in a bed of vines on hole number five. McIlroy made an early exit from the tournament after struggling with his new Nike clubs, shooting a second straight 75. According to the Associated Press, "it's the first time the world's top two players missed a cut in the same tournament since McIlroy and Luke Donald at the 2012 U.S. Open."
Mickelson is one of the most decorated golfers on the tour and has won 40 career PGA events while earning $67,677,098 on the golf course. The 42-year-old has won four majors and also pulled in over $43 million in endorsements in 2012, ranking seventh on the Forbes magazine list of highest-paid athletes, slated behind boxers Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, Tiger Woods, basketball players LeBron James and Kobe Bryant and tennis' Roger Federer.
Mickelson first spoke about the issues earlier in the week when discussing the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and the subject of Steve Stricker's decision to play fewer tournaments.
"I think that we're all going to have our own kind of way of handling things, handling time in our career, our family, handling what's gone on the last couple of months politically," Mickelson said to Golf Week. "I think we're all going to have to find things that work for us. And it's not surprising at all. It makes perfect sense for a number of reasons, not just the ones that he gave about spending more time at home. I totally get it."
Mickelson was asked during the interview about the PGA Tour Retirement plan, which is one of the best in professional sports.
As described by the questioner: "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."
Mickelson will answer more questions about the tax issues later in the week, but it highlights one of the fundamental differences from individual and team sports and how golfers have to worry about certain issues that other players do not.
