"At the end of the day, this is not an issue about Phil."

Buried deep in Andrew Both's excellent summary of the Mickelson situation:

Indeed, Mickelson sought out Pampling after learning of the Australian's comments, in order to give his side of the story. Lefty need not have bothered, because Pampling was unmoved.

"He explained he was there (in Arkansas) not making any money out of it, which helped the (tour's) decision making," Pampling said. "At the end of the day, this is not an issue about Phil. I explained it's not personal and he understands that. It's the tour's decision. He was just the guy given the pass. I still don't think he should have been in the field."

Tour executive vice president Henry Hughes and tournament director Slugger White made the decision to allow Mickelson to play. One player speculated that the ruling has so riled the rank and file that there will be calls for Hughes's head.