When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
Looking at his frank remarks to Mark Rolfing late in 2005, I thought I might get a better feel for what it is that has Phil Mickelson so upset with Tim Finchem. Instead, I'm more confused than ever. Read this, then read his comments after the Deutsche Bank and he comes across as irrational.
Mauricio, this is Mr. Finchem's office calling, we would like to move up that color session scheduled for next week to this week.
Oh, Mr. Daly acting up again?
No.
Mr. Woods?
No.
Mr. Mickelson?
Yes Mauricio, you obviously saw the telecast. So how about Thursday, just be at the airport and the Falcon will take you up to Chicago and back, just like in May when you took care of him.
Oh I remember, the drug testing stress. Well tell Mr. Finchem I'll bring the nice light brown he prefers for the summer months.
I will tell him.
Steve Elling pieces together the details of Phil Mickelson pulling down his pants and turning a positively joyous, downright classic golf tournament into yet more millionaire bickering spilling out on national TV (I knew I should have left for the beach after NBC signed off!).
And you know the way Elling spells it out, as well as Chris Lewis (who transcribes the Jimmy Roberts interview) I think Phil's going to have people feeling sorry for the Commissioner. That's not easy to do!
If you want to read it straight from Mr. Family Man's mouth, here are the key excerpts, with the point misser and rally kill trimmed for your reading sanity. Well, except for that in-house, PGA Tour designed kill...
Q. Based on some comments on TV, is your rival now Tiger or Tim?Can we set this to Schubert? Maybe string quartet No. 14 to really capture the totality of this terrible man making you play so much golf for all that money in between your corporate outtings!
PHIL MICKELSON: Oh, no, no. I don't have a problem, it's just that I'm a little conflicted on some things because I'm trying to -- I want to have a balance in my life, and I certainly feel the obligation to play and support the FedExCup and to support the PGA TOUR, support the game of golf.
And I also want to have balance in my family life, and my family has sacrificed a lot this year because it's been a very difficult schedule. It's not the four FedExCup tournaments; it's the PGA, Akron right before that, only four days off after the British Open before we had to travel and playing two weeks before that, so it's been the last three months having no more than two days off at a time and working to do corporate outings in between.
So our time together has struggled, and I want to have a balance there. They start school next week, so I have that conflict -- or obligation and desire to be there.
My frustration from this past year came from asking for a couple of things in the FedExCup that weren't done and not really feeling all that bad now if I happen to miss. So I'm not really sure how it's going to play out.
Like I said, he's making you feel for the Commissioner isn't he?
Q. You said a couple discussion points with Tim that you were looking for vis-á-vis the design of the Playoff structure.
PHIL MICKELSON: I don't want to go into it. Just I want to support it and I certainly feel the obligation to, but I also have to have a balance both ways.
Q. Did you talk about it this week?
PHIL MICKELSON: Every time I see him this year I bring it up.
And this would be what? Oh right, that's confidential.
Here's a nice endorsement for the playoffs, again, after a thrilling finish that has done wonders for his season, brought great attention to his sponsors, wonderful vibes for Boston fans and in general, boosted the FedEx Cup's profile....
Q. Were you more excited about the FedExCup or more excited about 2008?
PHIL MICKELSON: I'm excited about the way this week went. I loved this finish, I loved being able to play three rounds with the best player of arguably all time and certainly the best player in the world today, and to be able to come out on top feels great, and that just leads to excitement for the coming here, as well as I guess the finish of the year. But '08 is when our next major is, so that's kind of what I'm looking forward to.
Q. Are you going to play next week?
PHIL MICKELSON: I was just saying, I don't know.
Q. But you'll be in Chicago --
PHIL MICKELSON: I'm not sure. I don't know.
Q. You'll be there tomorrow, though?
PHIL MICKELSON: I'll be there tomorrow. I had already scheduled an outing I was planning on playing, but I'm not sure.
Q. If you were to skip next week, would that mean skipping the last one, too?
PHIL MICKELSON: No, I would end up going to Atlanta.
STEWART MOORE: I believe we've touched on 12 and 18. Can you briefly take us through the rest of your birdies?
Are rally kills by the in-house PGA Tour staff eligible for Rally Killer of the Year? Hmmm...
From Steve Elling's preview of today's Woods-Mickelson pairing:
Mickelson stands two shots behind 54-hole leader Brett Wetterich, who is 13 under, while Woods is three back. The game's two most popular players were paired for the first two days at TPC Boston, along with Vijay Singh, attracting a huge throng. The crowd following the two biggest draws in the game Monday ought to make the mood over the first two days look serene.
"Well, I don't know, there's only two of us this time," Mickelson cracked.
Steve Elling files an entertaining report on Saturday's much-improved performance (19-under-par!!) from the Tiger-Phil-Vijay pairing.
It was gang engorgement, a feeding frenzy. Mickelson, ever the smirking wise guy, suggested that Woods might have been motivated to pick up his pace after Lefty started a torrid run in the middle of the round, when he played an eight-hole stretch in a blistering 7 under.
"I think Tiger got a little upset there when I got on that streak because he started out 6 under in his next six holes," Mickelson said, his math exactly right.
Oh that's good, but here's the buried lede:
Mickelson enjoyed the two days in the premier trio so much he wants more of the same in Monday's final round. Butch Harmon, his swing coach and Woods' former teacher, gave Mickelson some insider information on things to watch when playing with Woods. Mickelson declined to provide specifics, but it must have something to do with Woods' mannerisms or peccadilloes.
Maybe Woods has been demystified a bit.
"In the past I haven't really played that well with Tiger, per se," Mickelson said. "But he [Harmon] told me a couple of things he [Woods] likes to do, and I was watching for it, and I chuckled throughout the round when I'd pick up on it."
Mickelson stubbornly wouldn't offer more, other than Harmon's insight seemed to work.
"It's really helped because I find myself chuckling at it now and played much more relaxed and had a good time today," Mickelson said.
I think that pretty much eliminates any hope of a Butch-Tiger reunion.
A few other nuggets from Mickelson's press conference:
PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, figuring out how the slopes on the greens are going to take it. I love the design and I love the setup. I love the way the greens are, around the greens, the way the rough is where you can actually play shots, and I think that I'm going to plan on making this a permanent stop. This is the first time I've been here, and I can't believe I haven't been here earlier. This is a wonderful tournament for us.
Guess Phil likes fescue rough.
And on the FedEx Cup...
Q. When you first heard about the FedExCup, what was your sense then, and has it changed at all since you've started to play in it?
PHIL MICKELSON: I'm not sure. I mean, I think that I won't have a good comment for you on the FedExCup for a couple years. I think that I've got to give it a fair chance to play out and see how the individual events go and see how the overall chase for the Cup goes. The first year we're going to need to do a few tweaks, you can tell, and I'm curious to see how next year's scheduling is going to be.
There's a lot of little areas in there that are critical I think in the first couple years on whether it makes it or not.
I guess he hasn't heard that the schedule is set for next year.
This is funny and it leads into the stuff Elling quotes above...
Q. At a normal TOUR event you three guys wouldn't play together. Would it be good to do this more often?
PHIL MICKELSON: Well, I think it would. I mean, I think it would. Certainly the last three years this random computer pairings has randomly had us on opposite tee times every day for three years (laughter).
Q. Funny how that works out.
PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, anyway, but I enjoy it. This was actually a really interesting day because I've been working with Butch Harmon, as you know, and in the past I haven't really played that well with Tiger per se. But he told me a couple things that he likes to do, and I kind of was watching for it, and I chuckled throughout the round when I'd pick up on it. And it was just -- I think that working with Butch has really helped me understand how to get my best golf when I play in the same group as Tiger, and I'm hoping I have a chance to do that on Monday.
Q. Anything you can tell us, the things you look for?
PHIL MICKELSON: Oh, no, I'm not about to tell you. I'm not even going to go there. But just a couple things that have been very interesting, and certainly the stories have been great (laughter). But just a few things to watch for. And it's really helped because I find myself chuckling at it now and played much more relaxed and had a good time today.
Q. Kind of demystified the guy for you?
PHIL MICKELSON: I wouldn't say that. That's all I'd really care to go for. I'm sharing with you a little piece and you keep asking for more.
Q. Are you hoping you guys get paired together again next week?
PHIL MICKELSON: Absolutely. I'd like to play well tomorrow and I'd like him to play well tomorrow, so hopefully we both have a chance on Monday and maybe get paired together. That would be fun.
Steve Elling reports on the latest waffling from the other superstar who wanted the season to end earlier.
SI's Michael Bamberger notes that Sergio Garcia's post Open Championship comments put Jean Van De Velde's collapse and post-'99 perspective into, well, perspective.
Garcia blamed his bogey finish at the 72nd hole on bad luck, slow play and a greater plan. ("It wasn't meant to be," he said.) Eight years ago Van de Velde, who is not playing now because of an undisclosed illness, told reporters, "Don't look so sad."And he offers this, which ought to be well received in Ponte Vedra.
On Sunday night Garcia sarcastically told the throng, "I'm thrilled." His pain was perhaps understandable. He had been a king for three days.
Phil Mickelson used to have the damn-me-with-faint-praise title as the best golfer never to have won a major, and then he went on a Tigeresque tear, winning three majors in two years. (He missed the cut at Carnoustie, and don't be surprised if he shuts down his season after the PGA Championship next month, skipping the Presidents Cup and all the season — ending FedEx Cup events to fully rest his strained left wrist.)
Otherwise, according to Mark Garrod he's holding back his remaining thoughts for his Loch Lomond press conference. How am I going to sleep not knowing more?
Golfdom's Larry Aylward caught up with Oakmont superintendent John Zimmers and the USGA's Mike Davis after the U.S. Open and he asked about Phil Mickelson's remarks.
"[His comments] got me, they got our membership and they got the USGA," Zimmers told Golfdom. "Simply put, 99 percent of the players said it was the hardest U.S. Open they have ever played in. But it was absolutely the fairest one, too. It was a true test of golf."
To that, Zimmers said Tiger Woods came up to him after the tournament, hugged him and said, "That was tough." But Woods made the comment as a compliment, not a complaint.
Davis told Golfdom that the USGA thought Mickelson's comments were "perplexing."
"Maybe in this litigious society, where you're not responsible to anything that happens to you, maybe this was just something where he didn't want to be responsible and he wanted to put the blame on someone else," Davis said. "I don't think the USGA is ready to all of the sudden have no rough at the U.S. Open because somebody hurt his wrist in it three weeks before. But having said that, I will say Phil is a good player, and he was playing such great golf coming into the U.S. Open that it's too bad he hurt his wrist. ... Sometimes we all say things in the heat of the moment that, in hindsight, maybe we take back."
Thomas Bonk notes in his LA Times golf column that Phil Mickelson is apologizing for something he shouldn't have to apologize for.
Mickelson, who after missing the cut at the U.S. Open blamed the USGA for his wrist injury because of the length of the rough at Oakmont during his practice rounds, backed off his comments on his website Wednesday. He said he was simply upset about being hurt: "It's probably why I said some of the things I did on Friday and some of them may have been a little out of line. It was frustration talking."
Uh, frustration was also talking Wednesday night on The Golf Channel.
More importantly, as one golf scribe said to me today, these calls for Phil to apologize for saying what was on his mind (and what was clearly the case since two players WD'd because of rough-induced wrist injuries), is precisely the reason players offer so few original, profound or bold statements anymore.
Sigh. Yes, Tim Rosaforte says Phil needs to apologize for his remarks about the rough at Oakmont causing his injury.
If I'm Phil Mickelson, I'm crafting a letter of apology to the USGA and the membership at Oakmont, then, at my next press conference, I'm saying I really messed up after missing the cut by blaming my wrist injury on "course set-up." For his competitiveness, and the way he treated the people in the town of Oakmont during his stay, Mickelson really won everybody over. But his comments were damaging and he needs to make it right before moving on. Another good move would be to enter Tiger's tournament, the AT&T National, but that would mean three straight weeks of tournament golf -- Lefty's already committed to Loch Lomond the week before the Open Championship.
Damaging? To?
It seemed to me no one took Phil seriously?
Well either way, Rosaforte needs to add Chris DiMarco to the list then, since he told Golf World's Jim Moriarty in this week's issue (story not posted yet):
"It's going to take somebody swinging through and breaking an arm or something for them to finally realize that maybe the rough is a little too much. It's going to take somebody getting hurt for them to maybe gear down a little bit."
I suppose because it's a nuanced issue that would actually require some thought and consideration, a lot of people are going to shrug off Phil Mickelson's rough-induced-wrist-injury comments both on Golf Channel Wednesday night and after his round today.
There was the irony (or ignorance?) of the injury-plagued Johnny Miller blowing off Phil's remarks as the product of mistaken overpracticing. There was also the remainder of the NBC crew chiming in with a similar attitude, disregarding the fact David Howell also pulled out this week with a rough-induced injury. They also suggested this is typical of the U.S. Open, but is it?
Sure, like other years, this rough is a man-made hazard harvested to keep scores in check at apparently any cost.
But don't forget that the USGA's Mike Davis ordered that the rough cut be lowered to a unprecedented low of 2 3/4 inches prior to this week because it was so dense. There were plenty of other reports leading into the event about how unusually thick the grass was.
It's one thing for Mother Nature to leave a course so lush that such injuries are possible, but we know that the Oakmont mentality is in love with the idea of making the player suffer with over-the-top conditions.
So I find it shocking that there seems to be so little consideration that just maybe Phil has a legitimate point about the efforts to grow such dense rough and the possible impact on the players.
Mickelson, after the second round, in spite of a rally kill attempt...
Q. The injury and not be being able to prepare the way you wanted to and not being able to practice the way you wanted to?Rally kill here...and then...
PHIL MICKELSON: Well, it's disappointing to dream as a kid about winning the U.S. Open and spend all this time getting ready for it and have the course setup, injury, you know? To think that the end of this tournament -- you're trying to win and hit great shots but you're also trying to not end your career on one shot, which -- or at least suspend it for a while. That's a little disappointing, yeah.
Q. The U.S. Open, as big as it is, is it disappointing the way they decide to go, the way they went the last few years?
PHIL MICKELSON: That's not for me to say. I know they're doing the best they can, they are. They're doing the best they can -- they're doing all they can.
Q. Would you reevaluate your preparation for the majors?
PHIL MICKELSON: Absolutely, I'm going to have to change things. This really was dangerous doing what I did because the rough was twice as long and I thought that they may play it like that, and certainly with this liquid fertilizer and these new machines that make the grass suck straight up it absolutely is dangerous.
The first practice round on Monday, Jim Weathers had 6 other appointments, people hurting their ribs, their back, their wrists, it's dangerous, it really is. You've got 5 or 6-inch rough and you can only get a wedge in there, what good is it to practice?
Q. You're going to have to hit a high-lot of, club, right?
PHIL MICKELSON: I wasn't out there practicing out of the rough from the fairway, I was practicing around the greens so those are shots everybody is going to have.
Another excellent edition of Golf Channel's Pre-Game U.S. Open coverage featured the usual gang (Kann, Pepper, Nobilo, Oosterhuis, Lerner) stepping up to the plate with fresh insights into the field and course, with colorful (literally) reports from Marty Hackel and a fun look inside the Pirates' ballpark.
But it was all highlighted by the Steve Sands interview with an obviously perturbed Phil Mickelson.
One comment from Phil was notable for its honesty and accuracy, the other just a sign of these wacky times.
Sands: You nervous at all...about the wrist?
Mickelson: I'm uncertain whether or not it's going to hold up on some of the shots out of the rough. It's been hurt in this rough before. Yesterday, 5, 6 people got hurt that Jim Weathers had to go work on. I think this golf course is a physical hazard to the players. I don't think that that has been very well thought out. So I think every player should be concerned--not just me--when they hit a shot in the rough.
I know I've shared my bias on this as someone who had a wrist injury and as someone who finds it pitiful that rough is harvested like a crop so grown men can compensate for some mysteriously vacant portion of their golfing soul that believes this torture rewards skill, but isn't there something seriously wrong with the game when antics like rough-on-steroids could impact our national championship and potential damage the well-being of a player and his career?
Anyway, here's the part where the modern player mentality of having consistent greens throughout the course is a bit hard for me to relate to. Continuing on after his comments about the rough...
Mickelson: This has forced me to prepare on the greens. Pelz and I have been out here on the greens this weekend, I feel like I have a good concept of how the putts break but also the speeds. You know the speeds have fluctuated tremendously from green to green. And I know they're doing the best, but they do the same thing to each green. They cut it the same height, roll it the same for every green. Well that's just ridiculous because you have greens that are high that are more exposed and get more wind and greens that are low that get a lot more moisture, so the fluctuation in the greens have been up to four and half feet from the fastest to the slowest. And so I think guys are going to struggle and I think that on the greens I may have an advantage knowing what the actual green speed is.
I guess this is where I would say to Phil that you knowing the varying speeds of each green is a cool thing and that attempts to make speeds uniform would be more contrived than what's out there now.
Steve Elling on Phil's wrist injury, with an interesting take on the support device he's wearing:
Mickelson received a cortisone shot last week, has been trying muscle massage, rehab therapy and various forms of stimulation to increase blood flow to the affected area, and is traveling with a shaman of sorts, former Green Beret Jim Weathers, whose business card lists him as "motivational speaker, shiatsu master and reflexologist."
The wrist is so iffy that doctors ordered Mickelson not to practice, sign autographs or participate in any "strenuous workouts." (Note to Tiger Woods fans: Insert punchline here).
Facts are, the Open isn't a place you come when you are nursing a hand injury -- it's a place you leave with one. Witness Woods at Shinnecock in 1995, when he hit a ball into the high rough, tweaked a wrist while hacking out of the hay, and had to withdraw.
Mickelson might face another uncomfortable hurdle, as in whether the wrist wrap is copacetic in the eyes of the golf rulebook. USGA rules official John Morrissett said Tuesday that he had not inspected the wrap Lefty is wearing, but said it appeared to be made of an "Ace bandage material with no rigid parts." Players are prohibited from using swing-aids and devices designed to restrict wrist movement.
The bandage covers part of Mickelson's left thumb, the back of his hand and encircles his entire wrist. Clearly, taping the wrist is intended to keep Mickelson from further straining the injury and any swing benefit would not be his directed intent. Mickelson joked there could be a crossover effect.
"I would say this will help me keep it one shot at a time, and this brace will help me alleviate any extra wrist break at the top of the swing that I may have," he said.
Then Mickelson turned to a nearby USGA media official and cracked, "Is it OK if I use this (bandage) now that I said that?"
Let's not dismiss it with a flip of the wrist. Morrissett said the bandage "doesn't appear to inhibit movement in the wrist," though it will likely restrict and support it to some degree. Otherwise, why wear it at all? Mickelson even indicated he would tighten the bandage before hitting shots.
"There's a chance somebody with the USGA will take a look at it," Morrissett said.
Okay rules aficionados, what do you think?
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
