Trip Mickelson's Questionnaire

Miami Beach. I live in a small condo in a high rise building off Opalaca street. There is gated parking and I live on an inter-coastal canal with yachts tied up along the banks. While I don't make a lot of money, this location gives me easy access to many golf courses to practice my game. The University of Miami is a short walk away, it would be a nice walk if it weren't for horrific swarms of mosquitos that plague the area whenever the temperature isn't unbearably hot.

Traffic is horrendous in this area, but my life style allows me to beat the early morning traffic. The 20 minute drive to the golf course in the morning is a dream compared to the 1.5 hours it takes to get home after I finish practicing for the day.

I play in golf tournaments and teach golf lessons to make some scratch. It pays the bills, but I don't have spare money for luxuries. Most of my income after food, rent and travel is spent on equipment, clothes, photo shoots, paying my agent, and booze.

My agent says I could make more money if I were either better at golf and won more tournaments, or if I had a public persona that would be desirable for corporate sponsors to hire me as a spokesperson. It is a circular problem in that I can't be marketable without winning, I can't win without improving my golf game, I can't improve without money and opportunity, and I can't have money or opportunity without being marketable... Perhaps if I focus on social media and develop my own fan base.

I am striving to be a pro golfer with large corporate sponsorships so that I can live the life style of a rich and famous athlete.

I am willing to put all my time and devotion to this goal. Gambling and hustling has always been a part of golf. As a talented golfer when I was a child I met an older role model, Josepie, who took me under his wing and would bet on me during golf games. Turns out he was part of a mob and was training me to be a hustler.

After our games Josepie would buy me lunch and give me some cash for spending money. Turns out this was my 'cut' for his gambling. As I got older I had to do a few jobs for the mob, but Josepie would make sure I never fell into 'the life' too deeply. If I can't make it as a pro, 'the life' would be waiting for me, but for now I am to do my best to make it as a pro.

Would I kill to become a pro? I don't think so, but I can't imagine a circumstance that would require that... Perhaps under certain circumstances. I have heard stories from Josepie of times he or his associates have had to resort to such measures.

How close to death would I venture to become a pro? I don't think I would go that far, but I have waded in alligator infested waters to find errant golf balls rather than take the penalty for lost ball. So perhaps I am willing to risk quite a lot.

Meeting Josepie, despite his position in the mob, he was a good role model.

Befriending Josepie's eldest son, Salvatore, had a lasting impact on my development as well. We were of similar age, yet we were so different. My parent's weren't wealthy, but Sal had anything he wanted.

Despite the fact Sal wanted for nothing, he was chaotic and seemed to be endlessly unhappy. He had what could best be described as a twisted idea of ethics or morality. Some of my favorite memories spent with Sal were stealing cigarettes and walking around town flirting with girls. But, for every positive memory, there is at least one absurd experience that I try not to think about. Whether it was getting into brutal fights just to prove our manhood, mutilating the pets of people who upset us, or Sal's experimentation with drugs.

Ultimately, Sal's addiction to drugs led to his death. Ever since then I have no time or respect for drug addicts.