DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) — Phil Mickelson has joined a group of investors who want to buy his hometown Major League Baseball team, San Diego Padres.

Mickelson said Monday he has a joined one of the five groups trying to buy the team from John Moores, the Padres' majority owner for the last 18 years. Mickelson is part of the group that includes four grandchildren of former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley — Kevin and Brian O'Malley, and their cousins Peter and Tom Seidler, the chief executive of Class A Visalia Rawhide.

"I've been talking to them about being involved with them, having an opportunity to invest in the team and being part of the ownership group," Mickelson said. "I think it's a very good investment opportunity. More than that, it's opportunity to be involved in the community in San Diego, with something that gives the community a sense of pride. I feel like we can make the Padres a competitive team that can contend year in and year out, and we can do something for the community.

"It's something I've loved since I was a kid."

The San Diego Union-Tribune first reported the involvement of Mickelson, a four-time major champion who was inducted this month into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Mickelson brings the O'Malley clan a local investor and of San Diego's greatest athletes.

The O'Malleys and Seidlers are grandchildren of former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley.