Which Famous Golfer Owns A Slew Of Five Guys Restaurants?

While some celebrities diversify their income streams in the sexy worlds of fragrance or even spirits, others sink their teeth into meatier industries. Literally. We aren't talking about food world celebrity owned restaurants like Bobby Flay's operations either, but rather culinary arrangements by stars from the orbits of sports, entertainment, and the business of being famous. Some come in the form of tacit recommendations, like McDonald's famed collaborations. Others are via splashy de facto spokesperson agreements like those Carl's Jr. has been known to employ. And a relative few are more standard investments the likes of which you'd see from any franchisee.

The internationally recognized championship golfer Phil Mickelson, for example, has been linked to Five Guys, which recently earned a so-so position on our ranking of fast food french fries. "That place is so good,” Mickelson said following a round in 2010, according to The New York Times. ”I can't stop going there." CNBC later reported that Mickelson's association with Five Guys was more than a free endorsement of the chain after another golfer noted that Mickelson owned regional rights to the company. By 2021, the niche industry publication FranchiseWire reported that the golfer went on to own those actual franchise locations in California's Orange County.

Mickelson's reported involvement is a worthy addition to turn the list of 12 Five Guys' secrets into a baker's dozen. And he is not the only sports celebrity to have had a business interest in the company over the years. Repeat NBA champion and prolific investor Shaquille O'Neal once famously owned a whopping 155 Five Guys locations. Plenty of other stars have also had "just like us" moments simply by rolling up to the Five Guys register. 

Tom Hardy, sinister-voiced Bane himself, has been photographed sipping from a big Five Guys cup. Pedro Pascal, recent star of "The Last of Us," has also been pictured with a big bag of Five Guys goodies. And former president Barack Obama was the most powerful of all of Five Guys' regular guests, enjoying the ubiquitous free peanuts and topping his cheeseburger with jalapeños on occasion.