Mickelson Joins Group Seeking to Buy Padres, Union-Tribune Says

Three-time Masters Tournament winner Phil Mickelson joined a group interested in purchasing Major League Baseball’s San Diego Padres, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Mickelson, a 41-year-old San Diego native, is joining four grandchildren of former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley in exploring a bid for the Padres, the newspaper reported today.

“I’ve had the opportunity to invest in other sports franchises, and I’ve turned it down in the past,” Mickelson told the newspaper. “This was a unique opportunity with families that had done this before and know how to do it right and want to get involved in the community.”

The group, whose Top of the Third Inc. owns the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Class-A affiliate Visalia Rawhide, are one of five parties currently looking into purchasing John Moores’s controlling stake of the Padres, the paper said.

Mickelson earned $48 million from May 2011 to May 2012, making him the world’s sixth-highest paid athlete, according to Forbes valuations published earlier this month. He was the second golfer on the list behind Tiger Woods, who made $58 million.

To contact the reporters on this story: Eben Novy-Williams in New York at enovywilliam@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Sillup at msillup@bloomberg.net