Phil Mickelson won his first British Open on Sunday. And now he's got to pay the price. Literally.
Thanks to some hefty taxes in England and California, where Mickelson resides, estimates have Lefty only bringing home around 40 percent of the $1.4 million that he earned at Muirfield. According to ESPN, the United Kingdom takes nearly half of Mickelson's winnings ($628,900), while California will take another 13.3 percent ($192,300).
After several other small taxes are taken out of the total, estimates have Mickelson bringing home $569,707 of the $1.4 million first-place prize.
This is not a new issue for Mickelson, who suggested earlier this year that he might have to leave California because of the state's drastic changes to its tax laws. He later apologized for his remarks.
"You know, I've made some dumb, dumb mistakes and, obviously, talking about this stuff was one of them," Mickelson said.
Lefty isn't the only high profile golfer to gripe about California's taxes. Tiger Woods says he too moved out of California to avoid the exacting toll of taxes.
And while you may feel bad that Mickelson has to surrender so much of his fortune, don't cry for him just yet. Mickelson's victory over the weekend could boost his endorsement profile enormously.
"I'd estimate that the British Open win, given its amazing quality -- and Phil's crowd-pleasing demeanor and likability throughout -- could bump him up at least $50 million a year in deals," Bob Dorfman, an executive vice president at Baker Street Advertising, told ESPN.
