Mickelson shrugs off demotion to upstage his captain Furyk
Out-of-form American issues loudest rallying cry Veteran left out after even ‘playing poor in practice’
The previous time Phil Mickelson was forced to take a Ryder Cup day off he sent texts begging for a second chance before undermining his captain in front of the world’s press.
Four years later, Mickelson, the most regular fixture of all Americans in the biennial match, adopted an alternative route to making himself heard after he was axed again.
Perhaps accepting his best years are now firmly behind him, he instead launched the loudest rallying cries for his embattled team, delivering one particularly demonstrative pep talk on the greens after Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas salvaged a point in the fourballs.
Mickelson immediately walked over to the pair to deliver a tub-thumping rallying cry before Jim Furyk could get a word in edgeways.
The US captain’s thunder was firmly stolen, but Furyk had escaped the humiliation dished out to Tom Watson at Gleneagles. In 2014, Mickelson reacted so badly to his benching that, following defeat, he publicly bemoaned a change from the captaincy policies of Paul Azinger, who led the United States to victory at Valhalla six years earlier.
If Mickelson was furious over his demotion yesterday, he certainly wasn’t showing it. Even when finding himself mocked by Spieth and Thomas, who regularly walked over to him to rub his belly, presumably in search of some desperately needed luck for the American side.
The 48-year-old Ryder Cup veteran was benched by Furyk after a disastrous solitary performance with Bryson DeChambeau against Sergio Garcia and Alex Noren, which had seen them fall seven down through nine holes. DeChambeau partnered Tiger Woods in yesterday afternoon’s foursomes.
“The rumour has it Phil has played poor in practice and he hasn’t played well in recent times,” former Europe Ryder Cup player David Howell said. “He’s tired, he’s not the Phil Mickelson that we know from over the years.”
Ryder Cup rookie Thorbjorn Olesen was the only Europe player spared from duties yesterday. He spent most of the morning on the practice range with his coach. The Europe team now nominate an assistant captain to look after players who are left out after players complained of losing their sharpness in previous years. Olesen, the only singleton in the Europe camp, might have welcomed the company.