Phil Mickelson might win a major ... a major Waffle House deal

The first Waffle House franchise opened in the Atlanta suburb of Avondale Estates, Ga., in 1955. Phil Mickelson won three BellSouth Classic titles in the Atlanta suburb of Duluth this decade. Other than that, there's not a lot Lefty has in common with the Southeast-based restaurant chain more known for late-night visits by college students looking for an early cure to the inevitable hangover.

But now comes a report out of The Tennesseean that Mickelson (along with Nashville-area businessman Terry Prefanis and Mickelson's agent, Steve Loy) has put in a bid to purchase 105 Waffle House locations. The trio has offered to bail franchisee SouthEast Waffles out of bankruptcy for $20.2 million in cash and payments over time.

The bid has lots of red tape to go through before the sale is complete. But if approved, Mickelson could be part-owner in one of the most famous (some might say infamous) eateries in the country. The 24-hour diner has over 1,500 locations in 25 states and is part of Americana. "The Awful Waffle" has also become a pop culture reference made in songs, comedy routines and even made an appearance in the 1996 golf classic "Tin Cup" (as did Mr. Mickelson.)

The article indicates that while none of the three men have run a restaurant, they're all fans of the venerable establishment and would hire an operator with "significant" experience. The group intends on renovating some of the older stores and eventually expanding. They also believe it's simply a good business opportunity.

Obviously, 2009 has been an eventful year for Mickelson. Becoming part-owner in the home of "scattered, smothered and covered" hashbrowns would be just another chapter ... but a delicious one.

Revisiting Tiger & The 49ers: No. 4, Vijay Singh

All week, we're running down the best golfers in our massive Tiger & The 49ers feature from before the 2009 season, surveying who's up and who's down midway through the year. Next up: The Big Fijian.

No. 4: Vijay Singh

His 2009: Three top 10s; best finish: T6 at the Crowne Plaza Invitational; FedEx Cup rank: 59

The story: Vijay has always been a feast-or-famine kind of golfer, and if last fall and his FedEx Cup victory was the feast, we hit the famine earlier this year. True, surgery kept him off the course for several weeks. Afterward, he cracked the top 30 of both the Masters and the U.S. Open. But it's only recently that he's looked like the Vijay of old; we picked him as a dark horse for the British Open, and while that didn't pan out, I don't expect him to continue to remain on the margins much longer.

Up or down? Eh, maybe down, but really, who could compete with how he finished out 2008? A $10 million check buys a lot of mulligans, metaphorically if not literally. As the injury recedes farther in the distance, expect The Big Fijian to continue his assault on golf courses around America.

Revisiting Tiger & The 49ers: No. 5, Phil Mickelson

Before the 2009 season began, we ranked every golfer in the world in our massive Tiger & The 49ers list. All this week, we'll be revisiting those rankings, seeing how well we did and whether we ranked them correctly. Next up:

No. 5: Phil Mickelson

His 2009: 2 wins (WGC-CA Championship, Northern Trust Open), six Top 10s, FedEx Cup rank: 3

The story: What a 2009 for Phil Mickelson. He started strong, putting up two wins and making a memorable run at the Masters, and then was devastated by the news that both his wife and mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Even through all that, he put together an exceptional U.S. Open tournament, one that came within just a few holes of being a story for the ages. He's temporarily suspended his 2009 to be with his wife and mother, but when he does come back, he's absolutely going to be the man to beat.

Up or down? Up, way up. All the way to the top, if he'd managed to close the deal at Bethpage, and you could make the argument that he belongs there anyway based on his 2009 as compared to Tiger's.