Shamed Mickelson loses plot over putt miss
American escapes being disqualified from US Open Two-shot punishment for stopping ball running away
Phil Mickelson came looking to end his US Open curse and join the immortals who have completed the career Grand Slam. Instead, the darling of American golf earned a place on the roll of dishonour by deliberately stopping his ball rolling off a green, an offence almost unheard of in big-time golf.
The bizarre incident inevitably caused huge controversy, with one former Ryder Cup player saying he should be disqualified, a call later echoed by a former head of the United States Golf Association. And the five-time major champion’s brazen admission only poured paraffin on a fire which is sure to burn on and on.
“If someone is offended I apologise, but toughen up,” Mickelson said. “I know it’s a two-shot penalty. At that time, I just didn’t feel like going back and forth. It’s my understanding of the rules. I’ve had multiple times where I’ve wanted to do that, I just finally did... It was meant to take advantage of the rules as best as you can.”
After these sneering and, yes, outrageous comments the USGA was coming under renewed pressure to disqualify Mickelson. At the very least, the authorities should change the regulations and ensure any professional so publicly transgressing the rules in such a manner should be shown the gates immediately.
For a sport in which petty, non-wilful misdemeanours have infamously cost players major championships – including the US Open – this is another huge embarrassment. Mickelson should be ashamed. Undoubtedly this has tarnished his carefully constructed “good guy” reputation.
The disgrace occurred on the 13th as the garlanded left-hander was playing his third round in the company of the Englishman Andrew “Beef ” Johnston.
Mickelson had arrived at the course celebrating his 48th birthday and the stage was set for the left-hander to fire his way back into the tournament.
With six runners-up placings on his CV, the US Open clearly owed him one and although he began 10 behind halfway leader Dustin Johnson, hopes were high of a Mickelson charge.
However, by the time he teed it up on the 374-yard par four he was at fourover for the day, 10-over for the tourna ment, having bogeyed four of the previous five holes. On the green in three, he had an 18-footer for a par but his ball zoomed past the hole and on to the slope heading off the putting surface. And so he acted.
Mickelson chased after the ball, actually breaking into a run, and when he caught it up, perhaps 12 feet past the hole and apparently picking up pace, hit it back up the hill. It went three feet past and then he marked it, with a smile on his face.
He then putted out for what was adjudicated to be a sept-up-let-bogey 10.
Meanwhile, the world of golf’s jaw hit the floor. On the Fox broadcast, Paul Azinger, the 2008 Ryder Cup captain, said: “That’s the most out of character thing I’ve ever seen from Phil Mickelson. I think he just snapped. I’m sure he is going to regret that.”
Initially, word came from Sky Sports that Mickelson had withdrawn but still he played on. If he was remorseful it did not show as he walked through the next few holes wearing his big, trademark grin and giving the cheering crowds the thumbs up.
By then Sir Nick Faldo had tweeted “It’s just not cricket” and Oliver Wilson, the European Tour winner, declared on BBC 5 Live he should be disqualified. David Fay, the former USGA chief, said: “I would have lobbied for disqualification.”
John Bodenhamer, the USGA’s grandly titled senior managing direc tor of championships and governance, explained why he was not. “Phil Mickelson was assessed a two-stroke penalty for making a stroke at a moving ball,” he said. “He was assessed under Rule 14-5, which explicitly covers this.”
When asked why Rule 1-2 was not invoked, which covers a ball “wilfully” being “deflected or stopped” to give the player “a competitive advantage” and demands disqualification, Bodenhamer replied: “Phil didn’t purposely deflect or stop the ball.”
And what exactly would a deflection look like? “If you stop the ball from going out of bounds,” Bodenhamer replied. When it was put to him that Mickelson “stopped” the ball from rolling down a hill, Bodenhamer said: “He didn’t deflect it or stop it. He played a moving ball.”
Eddie Pepperell, another European Tour winner, called this “a cop out”.
For his part, Johnson was bemused, but his viewpoint directly contradicted Mickelson’s claim his actions were premeditated. “I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s something you might see at your home course with your mates,” Johnston said. “I think it’s just a moment of madness, one of the moments where you’re not thinking about it.”
‘I know it’s a two-shot penalty. I’ve had multiple times where I’ve wanted to do that, I just finally did’