Michael Phelps FRONT


NINE THE


MICHAEL PHELPS SINK OR SWIM


Phelps set to headline Phoenix Open pro-am, says golf game better than first time around.


BY BILL HUFFMAN


way, he established a mind-bending 39 world records. Phelps, who along with his wife, Nicole, and infant son,


H


Boomer, moved to the Valley a year ago, will be the star of the show when the Waste Management Phoenix Open’s Wednesday pro-am tees off at the TPC Scottsdale. He also played in the event in 2013. Phelps, an aspiring amateur golfer, not long ago dazzled


the world by winning five gold medals and a silver at the Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, where he served as the U.S. team captain and carried the American flag in the Opening Ceremonies. “Every Olympics was different,” said the 31-year-old Phelps,


who called his career “a dream come true.” “I felt like the old dude on the team (last summer), to be able


to carry the flag and all,” he added. “Only one other swimmer has had that honor, Gary Hall, and he was from the Valley, too.” Phelps said his move from Baltimore to Paradise Valley has


been the perfect fit for him and his family. Having trained his whole life and never had the chance to go to college, he also has adopted Arizona State, where he serves as an unofficial assistant coach on the swim team under coach Bob Bowman, whom Phelps trained under. Recently Phelps was the headliner at the Phoenix Open’s


Tee-Off Luncheon at The Phoenician in mid-November, where he took time for a Q&A with AZ GOLF Insider.


1 How do you like living in Arizona vs. the East Coast? It truly has been the greatest way to finish a 20-plus-year career


and to be able to start a new chapter with our life in


Arizona. It’s really fun for Nicole and I to come to a place where we might not know a lot of people, but we’re able to start fresh. For me, being able to see sunshine and blue sky every day does so much for me mentally. I was home (Baltimore) for seven days for (Thanksgiving), and the last three days I think I was the


22 | AZ GOLF Insider | PREVIEW 2017


grouchiest human being on the face of the earth, with the overcast skies and rain. . . . But Nicole and I are very fortunate to welcome a baby boy into our lives, and call this our home. I feel like everybody here is so nice, so outdoorsy, and the golf is great. We love it.


2 You’re going to be the star of the Waste Management Phoenix Open’s Wednesday pro-am. Do you think it will go better than


when you participated in 2013? I don’t know if I really


played in 2013. It was more like whacking it around. (My game) is better than it was in 2013, for sure. Working with Hank Haney, but also working with a good friend of mine, (former Arizona State standout) Chris Stutts, being able to fine-tune some things, well, I shot 83 and 87 in the same week (recently) — 83 with three three-putts was my best round ever. . . . But I’ll have a lot more fun this time. I won’t be as nervous, and maybe I’ll bring a couple of things to throw up in the stands to make the fans like me a little bit more if I hit a bad shot.


3 Speaking of Haney, how was it being the focus of “The Haney Project” on the Golf Channel in 2012? The first half of (the


series) was pretty brutal. I’ll never forget, we’re at


Baker’s Bay in the Bahamas, and I’d hit about 200 balls on the range, and Hank says, “Let’s go play nine (holes).” I basically dropped my 4-iron, and said, “No, this isn’t hap-


pening,” but I didn’t say it that nicely. My hands were bloodied; I had blisters everywhere. The next day was a completely different day. We kind of made the turn (in our relationship).


4 What’s been the highlight of your brief golf career? Probably the 159-foot putt I made on TV during (the 2012 Alfred


Dunhill Championship in Scotland) while I was playing www.azgolf.org


e has been called “the greatest Olympian ever,” a moniker that swimmer Michael Phelps earned by winning a record 23 gold medals and another record 28 total medals during five Olympic Games. Along the


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