‘They sang happy birthday’: Phil Mickelson explains viral gorilla video
Phil, can you please explain the gorilla video?
The question was posed Friday to Phil Mickelson after the first round of the LIV Golf event at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. Mickelson’s bizarre cameo in a welcome video for new LIV commentator David Feherty went viral as the 52-year-old appeared masked and in front of a group of gorillas.
Details, however, were scarce at the time, which prompted the otherwise random inquiry from the reporter.
Mickelson went on to explain that he and his wife, Amy, had booked a trip to Africa eight months ago for Amy’s 50th birthday, which was in May. The itinerary called for a few days in Rwanda and then Tanzania, and part of the first stop included some time at a preserve.
“It looked like it was a preserve, but one day out of a month the gorillas come out of a jungle,” Mickelson said. “There’s like a wall there and they come out of the jungle and eat some of the eucalyptus trees for the salt and the stem, and we were lucky enough to see them on that day because we had a much better view of the entire family. Amy is all excited because a little baby gorilla came up to her and kind of bumped into her. She seems to have that effect on all animals. They all come to her. But it was a really special trip for us.”
The story was too much for Henrik Stenson, who was also part of the presser, not to chime in.
“Did the gorilla bring a birthday present for her?” Stenson quipped.
To which Mickelson responded: “They sang happy birthday for her.”