The United States Golf Association has 1) a short memory, 2) a flexible set of standards for star players or 3) a forgiving heart—or maybe all of the above.
In a week that has seen the golf community rise up in protest of the NCAA’s cancelling of the women’s regional in Baton Rouge, there has been nary a peep of protest about the USGA’s offer of a 2021 U.S. Open special exemption to Phil Mickelson.
For those who indeed have short memories, it was just three years ago in the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills that Mickelson scurried after an errant 20-foot bogey putt that was headed off the front of the 13th green. Long before the ball would have come to rest, Mickelson propelled it back toward the hole.
After that controversial stroke, the ball stopped roughly five feet above the cup, and Mickelson two-putted for an “8.” With the addition of a two-stroke penalty for hitting a moving ball, Lefty posted a “10” on the hole and finished the third round with an 11-over-par 81.
After the round, Mickelson spent 30 minutes in the scoring hut concocting a cock-and-bull story to explain his breach of the rules. According to the then-48-year-old birthday boy, his swipe at the moving ball was a calculated violation designed to prevent him from having to play a sixth shot from short of the green on the par-4.
A crowd of reporters, including Metro Golf Magazines’ Lee Spencer (white cap and sunglasses) interviews Phil Mickelson after his 13th-hole meltdown in the third round of the 2018 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills.
(Photo by Reid Spencer)
“Look, I don't mean disrespect to anybody,” Mickelson explained to a gaggle of reporters surrounding him. “I know it's a two-shot penalty. 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.
“I don't know if I would've been able to save the shot or whatnot, but I know it's a two-shot penalty, hitting a moving ball. I tried to hit it as close to the hole as I could to make the next one, and, you know, you take the two shots, and you move on.”
That explanation was absurd on its face. Mickelson would have been lying “5” in front of the green. To suggest that a player with Mickelson’s vaunted short-game skills wouldn’t have been able to hole out in fewer than five more strokes is laughable, even under the over-the-top conditions of play on Saturday at Shinnecock.
Mickelson wanted us to believe his actions were deliberate, part of a thought-out plan. Instead, he should have told the truth, admitted that he acted in frustration on the spur of the moment and apologized for his human failing.
By admitting he broke the rule in an attempt to gain advantage, however, Mickelson gave the USGA all the reason it needed to disqualify him from the competition, a fate that likely would have befallen a journeyman player.
The sanctioning body opted for the two-stroke penalty as the sole punishment, apparently oblivious to the message the decision would send to younger professional and amateur players looking to Mickelson as an example.
Of course, there was precedent. Back in 1999, a frustrated John Daly whacked a moving ball as it was rolling back to his feet behind the eighth green at Pinehurst No. 2 in the final round of the 1999 U.S. Open. Daly eventually made an 11 on the par-4 hole, including a two-stroke penalty, and finished with an 83. His four-day 309 total was good for last among those who had made the cut.
After the round, Daly slammed the USGA and vowed never to play in another U.S. Open, a promise he failed to keep.
“I’ve had it with the USGA and the way they run their tournaments,” Daly said in 1999. “The USGA loves to embarrass guys who play in their tournaments.”
Mickelson, on the other hand, embarrassed himself and the USGA with his antics on the 13th hole and subsequent canard manufactured to explain the breach away.
On the Wednesday after the championship, Mickelson issued an apology, admitting that the rules violation occurred in the heat of the moment rather than as a calculated gambit.
“I know this should've come sooner, but it's taken me a few days to calm down,” Mickelson said in a statement. “My anger and frustration got the best of me last weekend. I'm embarrassed and disappointed by my actions. It was clearly not my finest moment and I'm sorry.”
As far as the USGA is concerned, all is forgiven. When you’re Phil Mickelson, the USGA won’t hold a grudge.
Yes, Mickelson is a six-time runner-up in the U.S. Open. Yes, it’s a home game for the San Diego native at Torrey Pines, where he won the Farmers Insurance Open three times when it was still the Buick Invitational.
Mickelson is the sixth player since 2009 to get a special exemption into the U.S. Open, joining Tom Watson, Vijay Singh, Retief Goosen, Jim Furyk and Ernie Els. Of those five, only Singh is not a former U.S. Open champion.
“Phil Mickelson’s incredible USGA playing record and overall career achievements are among the most noteworthy in the game’s history,” USGA CEO Mike Davis said in a statement announcing Lefty’s inclusion. “We are thrilled to welcome him to this year’s U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.”
Clearly, Phil’s meltdown at Shinnecock is not part of his “incredible USGA playing record,” though it certainly was just as incredible as the explanation he coined to account for it.
I don’t begrudge Mickelson his place in the U.S. Open. I’m just surprised there hasn’t been a word of dissent.
But Torrey Pines is a special place for Mickelson. That’s where Phil got his first win as a professional, by four shots over Dave Rummells in 1993. In 2000, he beat Shigeki Maruyama and Tiger Woods by that same margin, and a year later, he defeated Frank Lickliter and Davis Love III in a playoff.
Come to think of it, Daly, a two-time major champion, got his win at Torrey Pines in 2004, three years after Mickelson’s last.
But I’m betting Daly’s special exemption has gotten lost in the mail.