"A lot of players are not happy"

Robert Allenby, on the Tour not DQ'ing Mickelson for missing the Nelson pro-am:

"A lot of players are not happy," world No 19 Allenby said after the first round.

"I like Phil, but when the tour set a precedent, they've got to stick with it," said Allenby. "He [Mickelson] checked into the hotel here when I checked in on Monday. He came here, was on site, and he elected to go somewhere else, knowing the weather was going to be crappy. He took the risk. Take the risk and you pay the penalty."

Pampling Speaks!

At least one more player besides Stuart Appleby was willing to go on the record about Phil's missed pro-am.

"He could have still made it here," [Rod] Pampling told reporters after carding an opening-round 68 on Thursday.

"The (PGA Tour) rules say you have to play in the pro-am to play in the (main) tournament so in my opinion he shouldn't have been allowed to play."

What Will Phil Get Away With Next?

From an unbylined wire service story:

Phil Mickelson will compete in the EDS Byron Nelson Championship today despite missing yesterday's pre-tournament pro-am.

PGA Tour rules state that a player missing a pro-am is automatically disqualified from the tournament, except for "extenuating circumstances".

Mickelson had planned to fly into town in his private jet late Tuesday night from nearby Little Rock, Arkansas, roughly a one-hour flight, in time for his 7am pro-am tee time, but the Dallas Love Field airport was closed due to severe thunderstorms.

Instead, he spent the night in Little Rock, arriving here at TPC Four Seasons resort shortly after 11am yesterday. Mickelson, it seems, was happy to play an afternoon pro-am, but the tour decided not to rearrange the tee times. Instead, he had lunch with the amateurs he was supposed to have played with.

"Phil was prepared to play in the afternoon. It wasn't his decision not to play," said Mickelson spokesman TR Reinman.

The PGA Tour's decision to allow Mickelson to play in the tournament was greeted with cynicism by some fellow players, who accused the tour of having a double standard, recalling that Retief Goosen was disqualified from the 2005 Nissan Open for missing his pro-am tee time, after oversleeping.

But the tour issued a statement defending its decision.

"Phil did everything physically possible to get here Tuesday night, but was grounded in Little Rock due to circumstances completely beyond his control," said tour executive vice president Henry Hughes.

Eight-time PGA Tour winner Stuart Appleby said the appropriate question was whether Mickelson had made every effort to get into town in time for the pro-am.

"I'm sure a lot of players think it's a very dodgy decision," said Appleby, who was curious to know whether Mickelson could have arrived at the crack of dawn in time to play.

"Each situation has to be looked at independently. If a player makes a reasonable effort, he gets a pass. If he doesn't, he should be disqualified. I don't care who you are.

And Stuart, do you think he made a reasonable attempt?

"If the (Dallas) airport was open in the early hours this morning, what I would say to my pilot is 'I've got to be in Dallas at 5.30am. If it's open, call me and wake me up."

That's a no.

I did go back and try to dig up the stories on Goosen's 2005 DQ at Riviera and after oversleeping, he did make it to the property just after his tee time.

I say it's all Rick Smith's fault.

“I’m not Rick Smith. I’m not going to spend 24/7 time with Phil."

Brian Hewitt talking to Butch Harmon about his new marriage:

Where, Harmon was asked Tuesday, will Mickelson’s place be on that totem pole?
 
“I have already called Fred Couples, Adam Scott and Stewart Cink and assured them this won’t change my relationship with them,” Harmon said. “I’m not Rick Smith. I’m not going to spend 24/7 time with Phil. When he needs help I’ll be there with him. ...But if you’re asking me who’s at the top of the totem pole, Adam Scott is my main client. And I’ve explained that to Phil.”

Here we'd gone a full two days without an insult flying! Let the instructor spat begin!

Par-3 Shootout Takes A One-Year Break To Give Rick Smith More Time In The Grieving Process

Well, and to find a new sponsor.

Oh and here's the Mickelson-Harmon-Smith break up/marriage press release where everyone makes it official that they love and admire each other as the great humanitarians that they are. 

Phil Proposes, Butch Accepts!

Golf World's Tim Rosaforte has the details, Dom Furore's photo still says it all (left):

But sources have told Golf World the Mickelson-Harmon alliance will be made official before the EDS Byron Nelson Championship in Irving, Tex. By then, Mickelson and Harmon will have worked at an undisclosed location in preparation for The Players Championship and ultimately the U.S. Open.

Yes, we want to make sure they nail the details of the prenup!

Sources have also told Golf World that Harmon and Smith have spoken and will remain amicable.

 Ah and I was hoping for a pay-per-view cat fight!

Harmon had no comment. Smith did not return calls. Friends of Mickelson have said this is the toughest professional decision he's had to make. He and Smith have evolved as close friends and partners in golf course design. 

It's All Rick's Fault!

Instructor Tom Patri in this week's SI Golf Plus can't understand what's taking Phil so long to blame his post U.S. Open inconsistency on his buddy/teacher and actually makes some great points.

First, I can't fathom why Smith, who's worked with Mickelson for a decade, has never shortened Mickelson's swing, which is sometimes as long and loose as John Daly's and routinely causes Mickelson to hit wildly off-line drives and long-iron shots. Second, Smith and Mickelson just seem too close. They are not only good friends but also partners in business ventures, and their families are close as well. Such a deep friendship is almost always the kiss of death to a teacher-player relationship because it prevents the instructor from being sufficiently blunt and critical.

The third-and biggest-problem is Smith's personality. He's simply too nice, which I think has caused him to be more or less a yes-man to Mickelson. Phil seems to be surrounded by people who too often have told him whatever he wants to hear rather than what he should hear. For that reason alone Mickelson dearly needs Harmon, who is an authority figure in the mold of Bob Knight.

Masters Photo Caption Fun, Vol. 4

In light of Jaime Diaz's piece below...

I'm going with "I know it was you Fredo. You broke my heart. You broke my heart!"

Wait, Smith is Fredo. That doesn't work.

Ah, you all can do better.

 

"Hey, thanks for looking after my buddy for me."

Oh how I love when overpaid swing instructors clash. Golf World's Jaime Diaz shares some great firsthand observations of the budding Rick Smith-Butch Harmon catfight over who gets to tell Phil Mickelson he needs to stop obsessing about distance. And great Dom Furore photo too (left).

Highlights:

Smith made it clear how he feels about Harmon’s forays with Mickelson when he saw Harmon on the practice putting green at the Masters and said, sarcastically, "Hey, thanks for looking after my buddy for me."

And Smith, more blunt: 

"[There has] probably been a lack of communication," said Smith Saturday, acknowledging that the partnership had stalled. “After awhile, the same message doesn’t get through as well. This morning before the round it got a little tense on the practice range because he was hitting the driver poorly and got confused. Finally, he sort of snapped at me, ‘Could you just give me one thing?’

Awkward!

Mickelson On Saturday's Conditions

At +6, suddenly very much in it... 

Q. The conditions.

PHIL MICKELSON: Tough as I've seen. It wasn't as hard as it could have been because they put water on the greens. Think it's not impossible. I will try to gather a game plan tonight. It's tough to be aggressive at all with these conditions. You have to be patient. It was a fair challenge.
As tough as it is, I didn't think it was unfair by any means. It's a challenge to make pars. You have to fight on every hole to make par here.

I don't feel like it's unrealistic, I've seen people come from seven shots back. It was a very good round for me. I played pretty well and fought hard to make a lot of pars. Obviously I needed to shoot under par to really put myself in contention. I fought hard enough to where at least I have a chance. I was looking at the leaderboard to get a game plan and what I have to do tomorrow. Only two people are under par. Tomorrow, I feel like I have to shoot in the 60s to have a chance. I think I have to make 14 pars and four birdies. That's kind of the game plan.

There are four birdie holes, but you are limited on those birdie chances. Certainly I need to get closer to even, but over par will win the tournament.

Mickelson's Pre-Masters Press Conference

A little more fun from the defending champion's sit down. First, the two driver deal:

Q. Will you take the two-driver approach this year?

PHIL MICKELSON: I will. I have been working on the second driver, which is a longer driver, and I plan on using it a reasonable amount. It's also the square-headed driver that I've been working with. So I'll have two different drivers, yes.

Q. Before I ask the main one, the square-headed driver you're going to use for what kind of ball flight?

PHIL MICKELSON: It will be a lot higher. I talked about draws and fades, and so forth. It's more -- a better way to relate to be a driver and a 2-wood because one of them, the longer driver, the square one goes 20 yards longer than my regular one.

So when I need distance, I use the square one. And when I try to hit little low shots or work it around the trees on 10 or 13, I'll use the regular-shaped driver.

And...

Q. Just as a refresher, what will you be eliminating in your bag and will that change from day-to-day?
PHIL MICKELSON: I'm taking out a sand wedge. I've played here three or four years without a sand wedge and I have not needed it once. Since the course has been lengthened, I don't ever need a sand wedge. Par 4s are long enough where I have to hit 8 through wedge maybe or par 5s I'm able to reach or I have an L-wedge.

The other club, I'm going to add a 64-degree wedge, which means I'll have to take out another club and I'll take out a 3-wood. There really are not any 3-wood holes for me, and the only time I would need it would be the second shot into 8, and I prefer to cut a driver, one of the two drivers, the FT-5 off the deck and hit a cut shot into that green.

And the fun part...

Q. Talking about the greens, no matter where you go, it seems all greens are compared to Augusta's. What are some of the nuances that make this place so special and so unique on the greens?

PHIL MICKELSON: They never get spiked up. You don't ever see spike marks at Augusta National. (Laughter). I would say that, you know, four or five feet from the hole whether or not it's going in. The ball tracks perfectly. I would say that the statistics of 5-footers at Augusta National made are the same as, statistically, as 3-footers on the PGA TOUR because the greens are so perfect that you should be able to make a number of short putts. That being said, they are so fast that oftentimes you have 10- to 60-foot come-back putts, and that's not that uncommon.

And...

Q. Sticking with the green jacket theme, what did it feel like two years ago to help him put on the jacket?

PHIL MICKELSON: I don't know, but I remember what it felt like last year when he put it on me. (Laughter).

Mickelson Reaffirms Support For Rick Smith By Working With Butch Harmon

From Tod Leonard in today's San Diego Union Tribune:

Mickelson reportedly played 27 holes at Augusta one day last week, shooting 65 for 18 holes and 31 for his other nine.

The San Diegan caused another minor stir Sunday when he briefly worked with instructor Butch Harmon before his final round of 69 in the CA Championship. The two were seen working together at the Accenture Match Play, but Mickelson downplayed it then, and he insists Smith remains his foremost swing instructor.

Why Phil Is Popular

After the post 2nd round media scrum in the ladies locker room...eh, that didn't sound right.

Anyway, after meeting with TV and print folks who burned off their chicken and potato media room lunch by coming up the hill to Riviera's clubhouse, Phil Mickelson easily could have taken a right turn down a hallway and headed toward the locker room.

Instead, he announced his intention to sign autographs for 15-20 minutes, where around 50 people (mostly very young boys) were waiting in near darkness to get various items signed. Pretty classy.

 

"Because he can"

Dan O'Neill documents an incredibly classy bit of generosity by Phil Mickelson and makes sure to remind us just how greedy the NFL is.

"It would be cool if Mickelson touched a club every once in a during the offseason"

From the Not's side of Alan Shipnuck's Hot/Not column, which also includes nice jabs at Walter Driver and NBC.

2. Phil Mickelson  Hey, I love Italy, too, and it sounds like fun to renew your wedding vows in Bora Bora, and who wouldn't want to hang out in Cabo overseeing the construction of a golf course? But in between all the goofing off and myriad corporate diversions, it would be cool if Mickelson touched a club every once in a during the offseason, thus sparing us having to watch him treat the West Coast swing like spring training for the apathetic.