phil isn’t fit to be a captain
With one putt, Phil Mickelson could have ruled himself out of ever being the United States Ryder Cup captain.
His actions on the 13th green at the US Open were shocking. They have done so much damage to his reputation – and to golf.
I add this to the aggressive tone he took in criticising USA captain Tom Watson so publicly straight after the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles.
On both occasions, Phil was unable to deal with the frustration and anger about things not going his way.
But that is a fundamental part of our sport. Hitting the ball is the easy bit. Controlling your emotions is the thing that is really difficult to do
If Phil cannot do that, then maybe he needs to take a prolonged break from the sport.
His hopes of finally winning the one tournament he wants above all others had gone up in smoke on an incredibly tough day at Shinnecock Hills.
But everyone who has ever played golf has had bad days on the course, without resorting to that.
With five Majors to his name, Phil is a great of the game. But it’s unfathomable to think of Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer or Gary Player behaving in such a manner.
I wonder if the PGA of America will log this incident for future reference, and think Phil has not shown the statesman-like qualities expected of a prospective captain.
Phil did later apologise for what happened at Shinnecock Hills. But the damage is done.
Watching last Saturday, I have never seen anything like it in all my years in golf.
I couldn’t believe that Phil could do that and walk off the green acting as if he had done nothing wrong.
If a player did that in the monthly medal at your club, he would be suspended.
It was a moment of madness. But then Mickelson made it worse by his explanation afterwards that he knew what he was doing in taking a two-shot penalty.
There was more to it than hitting a moving ball. He struck it back towards the hole to stop it rolling off the green!
I have subsequently spoken to a rules official, and Mickelson could have been disqualified under Rule 33-7 for a serious breach of golfing etiquette.
It was a cop-out by the USGA, yet again. How could they think what Phil did was worthy of the same penalty as someone hitting out of bounds?
I’m also convinced that Mickelson escaped because of his status. A lesser player would certainly have been kicked out.
But this is a stain on his character that will be hard to erase.
It will be brought up wherever he plays, including when he comes over to Scotland for The Open next month.
And some of his blue-chip sponsors may decide to end their deals if they think Mickelson has done untold damage to his reputation.
As ever, though, the USGA failed. They didn’t deal with Mickelson and they got the course wrong – again.
They are not fit for purpose. The USGA are so fixated on having a winning score around par that they trick up great courses like Shinnecock.
Given its location on Long Island, it doesn’t take a genius to work out that the breeze will come in off the Atlantic Ocean. Yet they put the holes in impossible positions as the greens got too dry.
Players were made to look silly. And despite our warnings, they didn’t heed the lessons from 2004.
However, we still ended up with a great champion in Brooks Koepka as he retained his title. And Tommy Fleetwood’s final round 63 showed he is ready to win a Major.