by Ravi Shankar
June 19, 2006
Golfer Vijay Singh added more fuel to the flame in his rivalry with left-handed golfer Phil Mickelson over the weekend at the U.S. Open.
According to witnesses, the two golfers were at the clubhouse at Winged Foot where Mickelson ordered a grilled chicken sandwich from the clubhouse eatery. Singh had just received his order of a veggie burger and french fries with a 20 oz. bottle of Fanta. After receiving his sandwich, Mickelson decided to tip the Winged Foot employee working at the grill. Singh took offense to this action.
"In Vijay's mind, Phil was trying to upstage him in the clubhouse by giving a tip," witness Lee Haas said. "They began to quarrel over the issue with Vijay claiming that all of Winged Foot's employees were being paid a reasonable hourly wage and tips were unnecessary, while Phil felt he was just providing an extra incentive for a sandwich well-grilled.
"It may have been a cultural thing as I don't believe Fijiptians like Vijay tip in their native land. A person from Fiji is called a Fijiptian, right? Fijian sounds too much like fajita, so that can't be right," said Haas.
Singh consistently wins the tournament award for meddling in other people's affairs while Mickelson celebrates adding another sandwich to his growing gut.
This is just another incident in the on-going saga of Vijay vs. Phil, which has included arguments over golf equipment, the kind of shoes being used by Phil, and who would win in a fight between Sonic the Hedgehog and Mario.
"This would be huge news, especially if Phil won the U.S. Open," said The Underground Nincomblog golf correspondent, Per Smythe-Cobbler. "But, instead, he went Jean Van De Velde on the 18th, so that's more important."
Singh finished tied for sixth place at the U.S. Open. According to witnesses, he enjoyed his veggie burger, but he found his french fries to be a bit too oily and salty.