Phil Mickelson went full Phil during his Wednesday press conference when asked what kind of impact a Ryder Cup captain has on the team. Instead of stopping at ‘a lot,’ Lefty opted to air out some dirty laundry that he’s had stashed in a drawer for the past 12 years.
The example Phil gave stemmed from the 2004 decision made by then-U.S. Captain Hal Sutton. Sutton decided he wanted to “give the world what they wanted” by pairing Tiger and Phil, which at the time was unprecedented. The issue Phil had was that he and Tiger weren’t aware of it until two days prior. In the end, it caused a national panic when it blew up in their faces, going 0-2 on the day.
“We were told two days before that we were playing together. And that gave us no time to work together and prepare,” Mickelson said.
Then, the 11-time Ryder Cupper got technical with the fact his ball used to spin less than Tiger’s and foursomes (alternate shot) was a major concern.
“In the history of my career, I have never ball-tested two days prior to a major. I’ve never done it. It doesn’t allow me to play my best,” Mickelson said. “What allows me to play my best is to learn the course, sharpen my touch on the greens, sharpen my chipping out of the rough and ball striking and so forth.”
“That’s an example of, starting with the captain, that put us in a position to fail and we failed monumentally, absolutely.”
Hal Sutton’s response was priceless when he heard the comments.
Early Thursday morning, Tim Rosaforte reported that Phil deeply regretted his comments and released this statement.
Oh, Phil.
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