Phil Mickelson was a millstone around the neck of U.S. Ryder Cup captain Jim Furyk.
That’s putting it mildly.
Furyk will be the whipping-boy in this 17 1/2 – 10 1/2 ass-kicking administered to his team by the Europeans.
He did make some questionable decisions.
The first came when he sat Tony Finau in the Friday afternoon foursomes and paired Mickelson with rookie Bryson DeChambeau. The Mickelson-DeChambeau team was drubbed by Sergio Garcia and Alex Noren, 5-and-4.
Consider first that Mickelson was in pretty bad form coming to Paris. He finished dead-last at the Tour Championship.
Also consider that Mickelson ranked 192 on the PGA Tour in driving accuracy. And they only go down to 193. Nearly dead last for Lefty.
So it seems improbable that you’d send him out for alternate shot matches on a course that absolutely punished wayward tee shots.
Furyk then sent Mickelson to the bench until he had to play in the Sunday singles.
Mickelson would be the sacrificial lamb for Francesco Molinari.
In their match, Mickelson was three-over par through the first five holes, giving Molinari a virtual lock on victory.
As it turned out, Francesco closed out Mickelson, 4-and-2 and clinched the Ryder Cup for Europe.
Which begs the question:
Is this the end of Mickelson’s Ryder Cup career as a player? His overall Ryder Cup record is 18-22-7. He’s lost more matches than anyone in Ryder Cup history.
Mickelson will be 50-years-old when the matches return to the United States in 2020 at Whistling Straits.
Odds are, we’ve seen the last of Lefty as a player.
Rightfully so.
