Mickelson, Sutton spar over ’04

CHASKA, Minn. — Two years of trying to minimize distractions in the team room and on the golf course before this weekend’s 41st Ryder Cup blew up in smoke Wednesday when Phil Mickelson indiscreetly put his foot in his mouth, golf cleats up.

Mickelson threw 2004 Ryder Cup captain Hal Sutton under the bus when he spoke at length of Sutton’s late decision to pair him with Tiger Woods without prior warning. Mickelson felt the pairing resulted in an alternate-shot loss to Darren Clarke and Lee

Westwood, in part, because he was not used to playing the ball Woods used to tee off. In the competition, the two players use only one ball.

Mickelson’s comments caused an immediate firestorm, and Sutton was clearly agitated. Mickelson yesterday called them “in bad taste” but denied that it was a personal attack. He also apologized directly to Sutton.

“I feel awful,” he said. “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 the way decisions can affect play, and I never should have done that, because it affected Hal.”

Sutton told reporters from Golfweek and Golf-World magazines late Wednesday, before Mickelson’s apology, that he thought Mickelson should move on from something that happened 12 years ago and tend to the business at hand, which is trying to end what has become a Europe-dominated event. The 2004 event was the first of two straight 18 1⁄2- 9 1⁄2 dominations, and one of six European victories in the last seven Ryder Cups.

Sutton said one reason he paired Mickelson and Woods was to try and change what had become a frosty relationship between the two. His hope was they would win some points, have some laughs and take the edge off.

“They didn’t beat anybody. It couldn’t be their fault. It had to be Hal Sutton’s fault. It had to be,” said Sutton, who noted Mickelson failed to mention he’d changed equipment companies that week without telling anyone. “He changed not only equipment, he changed his ball, too. So, print that. Print that. Print that. He let his whole team down. So he’s talking about Hal Sutton? He let his whole team down.”

Mickelson is 16-19-6 in Ryder Cup play. The U.S. has lost in eight of his 10 Ryder Cup appearances.

Sounds like the frostiness between Sutton and Mickelson may take more than an apology and a round or two of golf to melt.

Brotherly bother

Reigning Masters champion Danny Willett was all ready to enjoy his first Ryder Cup appearance this week and then some writer made his life difficult. Writers can do that, but you don’t expect it from your brother.

Willett apologized yesterday for an article written by his brother Pete, a schoolteacher and writer back in England, in which he called U.S. golf fans “pudgy, basement-dwelling irritants” and wrote, “the Americans need their baying mob of imbeciles to caress their egos every step of the way.”

Both Pete Willett and European team captain Clarke apologized to the U.S. team and to team captain Davis

Love III. Willett also tweeted out another apology before saying yesterday, “I was disappointed in what he wrote, obviously. It put a bit of a downer on my first Ryder Cup for the last couple of days.”

Money shot

Pete Willett’s opinion on rowdy American fans seemed to take on a life of its own when David Johnson, a Mayville, N.D., native, kept ragging on Rory

McIlroy and Andy Sullivan for repeatedly missing a twisting, fast downhill putt on the sixth green yesterday. His vocal criticism led Henrik Stenson to pull Johnson from the crowd and let him try his luck.

Johnson borrowed a putter and, as he was lining it up, European Ryder Cup member Justin Rose slapped a $100 bill down next to the ball. Johnson looked at the bill, looked at the ball, talked to himself, jokingly complaining that the putter was too short before saying, “Home soil, right!” He then drained the putt. The crowd roared. Rose, McIlroy and Stenson all high-fived him and he was quickly where he least expected to be: doing an interview on Golf Channel.

“Has the Ryder Cup started already?” McIlroy tweeted, then linked his tweet to a video of the putt.

If you believe in omens, bet the Americans.