Mickelson apologises over Sutton criticism

IF the pressure was already on Phil Mickelson’s shoulders in the build-up to the 41st Ryder Cup then the weight became that bit heavier at Hazeltine yesterday when he issued an apology to Hal Sutton for his withering take down of the former US captain.

The five-time major winner had recalled Sutton’s decision to pair him with Tiger Woods during an ultimately calamitous Ryder Cup for the USA in 2004 as an example of how ill-prepared he felt America’s approach to the contest has been down the years.

“That’s an example of starting with the captain that put us in a position to fail and we failed monumentally, absolutely,” said Mickelson in a press conference on Wednesday.

It was the second time Mickelson had condemned a US captain and it followed his damning assessment of Tom Watson’s ill-fated regime at Gleneagles in 2014. Yesterday, however, a clearly regretful Mickelson moved to clarify his remarks and apologised to Sutton, while conceding that his comments were “in bad taste” and “came across like it was a personal attack and I didn’t mean it that way.”

Sutton was actually in the vicinity at the time of Mickelson’s criticism. He was attending a past captains event at Minneapolis Golf Club but the 58-year-old later informed PGA of America officials that he would be leaving town as a result of Mickelson’s claims.

“I feel awful,” said Mickelson. “It was never meant to be like that. I was trying to use an example of how a captain can have a strong effect. Unfortunately, it came across the way it did. I was totally in the wrong. I never should have brought that up. I used an extreme example of the way decisions can affect play and I never should have done that because it affected Hal.”