Phil Mickelson turned 48 on Saturday at the U.S. Open and instead of opening presents, he opened a box-load of controversy.
Mickelson started the day six-over par. A good round could have gotten him into Sunday contention.
He was okay after a front nine 37 in the tough afternoon conditions. But he started the final nine bogey-bogey and his patience began to wear thin.
Things exploded on the 13th green.
Mickelson had a six-foot bogey putt from above the hole. As it slid by the hole and started to roll off the green, Mickelson ran over to the ball and hit it back at the hole while it was still moving.
A few more putts gave him and eight plus the two-shot penalty for hitting a moving ball, which he did intentionally. When USGA officials told him it was two-shots added to the eight for a swift 10, Mickelson politely thanked them. He’d end up shooting 81 and finished 17-over for 54 holes.
What he also did was stir up a huge controversy.
“I would have lobbied for disqualification,” said former USGA Executive Director David Fay, of Mickelson’s antics.
Afterward, Mickelson was surrounded by the media and he offered his mea culpa:
“Look, I don’t mean disrespect to anybody. I know it’s a two-shot penalty,” Mickelson said. “At that time, I just didn’t feel like going back and forth and hitting the same shot over. I took the two-shot penalty and moved on. It’s my understanding of the rules. I’ve had multiple times where I’ve wanted to do that. I just finally did.
“Oh, no question. It was going to go down in the same spot behind the bunker. I wasn’t going to have a shot. I don’t know if I was able to save a shot or not. I know it’s a two-shot penalty hitting a moving ball. I tried to hit it as close as I could on the next one, and you take the two shots and move on. I don’t mean it in any disrespect. And if that’s the way people took it, I apologize to them, but that’s not the way it was taken. I took the two-shot penalty, moved on, and there’s not much more to say.”
Daniel Berger, who ended up tied for the lead, saw the replay.
“I actually randomly just was signing my scorecard, and it was on TV, and I was like kind of shocked,” Berger said. “I didn’t even — I thought it was like a joke or something. But, I mean, then I watched it again when I was done, and it looked like that ball was rolling 50 yards away. So I don’t know the rules enough to tell you anything about that, other than I’m sure he regrets doing it. I mean, it looks like he just got really frustrated, which is easy to do, and, I mean, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that happen before.”
