Mickelson and the brutal rough...

[MarkFromTheUK]

Here's a piece out of Golfweek, if you read the whole thing, please tell me what Phil said when asked why he played so bad at the Ryder Cup that offends you all so much.

It’s a unique situation in that the way the Europeans did a great thing, they did the opposite of what we do when we have the Ryder Cup here. The fairways were 14 to 16 yards wide. Ben Hogan, who is the greatest ball-striker of all time, had a five percent margin of error. So if you hit the ball 300 yards, which we all hit it more than that, you need to have a 30-yard fairway to be able to hit it.

The fact is they had brutal rough, almost unplayable, and it’s not the way I play. I don’t play like that. And here (at Safeway) I can miss the fairways, I can get shots out of the rough up on the green and it’s playable.

And I’m 48. I’m not going to play tournaments with rough like that anymore. It’s a waste of my time. I’m going to play courses that are playable and that I can play aggressive, attacking, make a lot of birdies, (the) style of golf I like to play.

 

That is a thorough and interesting assessment.

To be clear, Mickelson is not criticizing the Europeans for setting up Le Golf National that way. In fact, he applauded them off the bat for setting up the course to their advantage.

His point is part of why he played so poorly at the Ryder Cup is it being on a narrow and penal course that is the antithesis of his style, and there’s no reason for him to seek out playing a layout like that going forward on his schedule.

 

What the hell is this? Facts and balanced opinion do not belong here.

[RobS14526]

“When the going gets tough,

The rough gets mowing”

 

- Phil Mickelson, 2024 Ryder Cup Captain

[Golfer4Life]

I can't wait for Phil to be named RC Captain. I'm sure they'll give him a layup with an in-country captaincy, you know to make things easy for the old guy, lol....

 

Poor Phil, can't play tough setups. Pathetic, but funny.

[Golfer4Life]

Here's a piece out of Golfweek, if you read the whole thing, please tell me what Phil said when asked why he played so bad at the Ryder Cup that offends you all so much.

It’s a unique situation in that the way the Europeans did a great thing, they did the opposite of what we do when we have the Ryder Cup here. The fairways were 14 to 16 yards wide. Ben Hogan, who is the greatest ball-striker of all time, had a five percent margin of error. So if you hit the ball 300 yards, which we all hit it more than that, you need to have a 30-yard fairway to be able to hit it.

The fact is they had brutal rough, almost unplayable, and it’s not the way I play. I don’t play like that. And here (at Safeway) I can miss the fairways, I can get shots out of the rough up on the green and it’s playable.

And I’m 48. I’m not going to play tournaments with rough like that anymore. It’s a waste of my time. I’m going to play courses that are playable and that I can play aggressive, attacking, make a lot of birdies, (the) style of golf I like to play.

 

That is a thorough and interesting assessment.

To be clear, Mickelson is not criticizing the Europeans for setting up Le Golf National that way. In fact, he applauded them off the bat for setting up the course to their advantage.

His point is part of why he played so poorly at the Ryder Cup is it being on a narrow and penal course that is the antithesis of his style, and there’s no reason for him to seek out playing a layout like that going forward on his schedule.

 

And, again, he should have stayed home.

[Ghost of Snead]

Here's a piece out of Golfweek, if you read the whole thing, please tell me what Phil said when asked why he played so bad at the Ryder Cup that offends you all so much.

It's a unique situation in that the way the Europeans did a great thing, they did the opposite of what we do when we have the Ryder Cup here. The fairways were 14 to 16 yards wide. Ben Hogan, who is the greatest ball-striker of all time, had a five percent margin of error. So if you hit the ball 300 yards, which we all hit it more than that, you need to have a 30-yard fairway to be able to hit it.

The fact is they had brutal rough, almost unplayable, and it's not the way I play. I don't play like that. And here (at Safeway) I can miss the fairways, I can get shots out of the rough up on the green and it's playable.

And I'm 48. I'm not going to play tournaments with rough like that anymore. It's a waste of my time. I'm going to play courses that are playable and that I can play aggressive, attacking, make a lot of birdies, (the) style of golf I like to play.

 

That is a thorough and interesting assessment.

To be clear, Mickelson is not criticizing the Europeans for setting up Le Golf National that way. In fact, he applauded them off the bat for setting up the course to their advantage.

His point is part of why he played so poorly at the Ryder Cup is it being on a narrow and penal course that is the antithesis of his style, and there's no reason for him to seek out playing a layout like that going forward on his schedule.

 

And, again, he should have stayed home.

 

Phil wasn't staying home unless he was not picked. Furyk or one of the vice-captains could've flown over Labor Day w/e and had a look at the course setup. This was all about keeping Mickelson's RC streak alive until he moved on to a vice-captain role and ultimately captain. And also Furyk's role as a future vice-captain for Phil.

[Golfer4Life]

Here's a piece out of Golfweek, if you read the whole thing, please tell me what Phil said when asked why he played so bad at the Ryder Cup that offends you all so much.

It's a unique situation in that the way the Europeans did a great thing, they did the opposite of what we do when we have the Ryder Cup here. The fairways were 14 to 16 yards wide. Ben Hogan, who is the greatest ball-striker of all time, had a five percent margin of error. So if you hit the ball 300 yards, which we all hit it more than that, you need to have a 30-yard fairway to be able to hit it.

The fact is they had brutal rough, almost unplayable, and it's not the way I play. I don't play like that. And here (at Safeway) I can miss the fairways, I can get shots out of the rough up on the green and it's playable.

And I'm 48. I'm not going to play tournaments with rough like that anymore. It's a waste of my time. I'm going to play courses that are playable and that I can play aggressive, attacking, make a lot of birdies, (the) style of golf I like to play.

 

That is a thorough and interesting assessment.

To be clear, Mickelson is not criticizing the Europeans for setting up Le Golf National that way. In fact, he applauded them off the bat for setting up the course to their advantage.

His point is part of why he played so poorly at the Ryder Cup is it being on a narrow and penal course that is the antithesis of his style, and there's no reason for him to seek out playing a layout like that going forward on his schedule.

 

And, again, he should have stayed home.

 

Phil wasn't staying home unless he was not picked. Furyk or one of the vice-captains could've flown over Labor Day w/e and had a look at the course setup. This was all about keeping Mickelson's RC streak alive until he moved on to a vice-captain role and ultimately captain. And also Furyk's role as a future vice-captain for Phil.

 

Well, it worked well for Phil and U.S. team.

 

And, again, Phil is all about Phil. Always has been, always will be.

[Jacked_Loft]

I don't see a problem here at all. Other players avoid courses that "don't fit thier eye" are "too long" etc.

 

Phil is just saying he's not going to play courses that he can't score competitively on anymore. That the RC just proved to him that his own game just isn't solid enough anymore to compete on tight, heavily roughed tracks. I tip my hat to him accepting his own shortcomeings.

 

Steve Stricker did the same thing a couple of years ago by reducing his playing schedule by mostly weeding out the tracks he didn't like and/or couldn't score on. Nobody here flamed him then about it.

[sevenfourate]

I don't see a problem here at all. Other players avoid courses that "don't fit thier eye" are "too long" etc.

 

Phil is just saying he's not going to play courses that he can't score competitively on anymore. That the RC just proved to him that his own game just isn't solid enough anymore to compete on tight, heavily roughed tracks. I tip my hat to him accepting his own shortcomeings.

 

Steve Stricker did the same thing a couple of years ago by reducing his playing schedule by mostly weeding out the tracks he didn't like and/or couldn't score on. Nobody here flamed him then about it.

 

I guess the point is; from his years of experience and playing at the highest level - its a shame for the US Team that Phil realised after the event. not before......

[hardcaliber]

I don't see a problem here at all. Other players avoid courses that "don't fit thier eye" are "too long" etc.

 

Phil is just saying he's not going to play courses that he can't score competitively on anymore. That the RC just proved to him that his own game just isn't solid enough anymore to compete on tight, heavily roughed tracks. I tip my hat to him accepting his own shortcomeings.

 

Steve Stricker did the same thing a couple of years ago by reducing his playing schedule by mostly weeding out the tracks he didn't like and/or couldn't score on. Nobody here flamed him then about it.

 

What Phil said is not inherently untrue. It’s actually probably smart at his age to limit his schedule and stick to tracks that work for him.

 

But as usual, his word choice sounds a bit smarmy and narcissistic. “Waste of his time” etc. As usual, he sounds like he is trying to sound like the largest guy in the room.

 

Also, he is trying to blame his poor performance on mathematical probability rather than just bad golf. Saying guys with 300 hundred yard drives can’t play tight fairways due to margin of error or whatever. Even though most of the euro guys aren’t monsters off the tee, they are pretty much all hitting 300 yards and at least a handful of them are higher in driving distance stats than Phil.

 

 

 

 

[Jacked_Loft]

I don't see a problem here at all. Other players avoid courses that "don't fit thier eye" are "too long" etc.

 

Phil is just saying he's not going to play courses that he can't score competitively on anymore. That the RC just proved to him that his own game just isn't solid enough anymore to compete on tight, heavily roughed tracks. I tip my hat to him accepting his own shortcomeings.

 

Steve Stricker did the same thing a couple of years ago by reducing his playing schedule by mostly weeding out the tracks he didn't like and/or couldn't score on. Nobody here flamed him then about it.

 

I guess the point is; from his years of experience and playing at the highest level - its a shame for the US Team that Phil realised after the event. not before......

 

This point has been alluded to in countless posts in this thread, but I guess Phil is a go down shootin' type of guy. At least he plays that way.

 

I won't fault Phil for a decision that was made by the Capitan because I think kistory shows that if you get the call....you go and try to do your best.

[Jacked_Loft]

I don't see a problem here at all. Other players avoid courses that "don't fit thier eye" are "too long" etc.

 

Phil is just saying he's not going to play courses that he can't score competitively on anymore. That the RC just proved to him that his own game just isn't solid enough anymore to compete on tight, heavily roughed tracks. I tip my hat to him accepting his own shortcomeings.

 

Steve Stricker did the same thing a couple of years ago by reducing his playing schedule by mostly weeding out the tracks he didn't like and/or couldn't score on. Nobody here flamed him then about it.

 

What Phil said is not inherently untrue. It's actually probably smart at his age to limit his schedule and stick to tracks that work for him.

 

But as usual, his word choice sounds a bit smarmy and narcissistic. "Waste of his time" etc. As usual, he sounds like he is trying to sound like the largest guy in the room.

 

Also, he is trying to blame his poor performance on mathematical probability rather than just bad golf. Saying guys with 300 hundred yard drives can't play tight fairways due to margin of error or whatever. Even though most of the euro guys aren't monsters off the tee, they are pretty much all hitting 300 yards and at least a handful of them are higher in driving distance stats than Phil.

 

Yeah, how somebody says something can rub somebody the wrong way. I really didn't read that (your second beef) out of what I had in front of me.

[Bingo1976]

How thick was the rough when he rinsed his tee shot to hand us back the Ryder Cup?

[grm24]

I thought the course was tricked up to benefit the Euros so I tend to agree with Phil. I belevie the courses should be set up independent of the teams. Rough is meant to be penal not unplayable. Just my take

Except the course wasn't tricked up for the RC. Bjorn signed off on the set up for the RC as the same for the French Open.

 

https://golfweek.com...p-course-setup/

 

While Thomas Bjorn has repeatedly said the setup would not be cultivated to create a perceived European advantage, the European captain has signed off on the European Tour setup maintaining what players see in the annual European Tour event

Then it's the exact opposite, the tour event was setup as a test run for the Ryder Cup. Either way he got what he was looking for, accomplished the same goal. A tricked setup with calf high primary rough.

Uh no. The course always plays difficult for the French Open. The course set up for the FO last year was the same as this year. It wasn't a special set up for the RC.

[JonnyW]

Here's a piece out of Golfweek, if you read the whole thing, please tell me what Phil said when asked why he played so bad at the Ryder Cup that offends you all so much.

It’s a unique situation in that the way the Europeans did a great thing, they did the opposite of what we do when we have the Ryder Cup here. The fairways were 14 to 16 yards wide. Ben Hogan, who is the greatest ball-striker of all time, had a five percent margin of error. So if you hit the ball 300 yards, which we all hit it more than that, you need to have a 30-yard fairway to be able to hit it.

The fact is they had brutal rough, almost unplayable, and it’s not the way I play. I don’t play like that. And here (at Safeway) I can miss the fairways, I can get shots out of the rough up on the green and it’s playable.

And I’m 48. I’m not going to play tournaments with rough like that anymore. It’s a waste of my time. I’m going to play courses that are playable and that I can play aggressive, attacking, make a lot of birdies, (the) style of golf I like to play.

 

That is a thorough and interesting assessment.

To be clear, Mickelson is not criticizing the Europeans for setting up Le Golf National that way. In fact, he applauded them off the bat for setting up the course to their advantage.

His point is part of why he played so poorly at the Ryder Cup is it being on a narrow and penal course that is the antithesis of his style, and there’s no reason for him to seek out playing a layout like that going forward on his schedule.

 

 

The point of narrowing of the fairways after 300 yards was to discourage the big hitters taking driver, that doesn't explain why Phil was unable to hit the wide part of the fairway with a driving iron or a 3 wood. Everyone can complain that the rough was too much and the fairways too narrow but that was the risk part of taking it on with driver, it's called course management I believe (and stuffing it in the water on a par 3 has nothing to do with length of rough or width of fairway).

 

The Ryder Cup I watched was full of exciting golf, some of the forced recovery shots out of the rough were amazing from both sides and I enjoyed the tight ebb and flow of a lot of the matches. Proper golf that demonstrated the phenomenal skills these players have and also the gaps in some of their skill sets.

 

I would also point out (as I've not seen it mentioned) that one of Thomas Bjørn's cleverest set up decisions was moving the spectators further back so that they didn't trample down the rough and make it easy to play from, thus stymying the usual tactic of using the crowd as a backstop for an errant drive.

 

Maybe Phil should go sign up with his local PGA pro for a course management lesson.

 

Don't hate on me Team USA...just one mans opinion :)

[grm24]

How thick was the rough when he rinsed his tee shot to hand us back the Ryder Cup?

Or when Phil hit it in the water with an iron off the tee on a par 5 when paired with BDC.

[Ghost of Snead]

I don't see a problem here at all. Other players avoid courses that "don't fit thier eye" are "too long" etc.

 

Phil is just saying he's not going to play courses that he can't score competitively on anymore. That the RC just proved to him that his own game just isn't solid enough anymore to compete on tight, heavily roughed tracks. I tip my hat to him accepting his own shortcomeings.

 

Steve Stricker did the same thing a couple of years ago by reducing his playing schedule by mostly weeding out the tracks he didn't like and/or couldn't score on. Nobody here flamed him then about it.

 

Guaranteed he knew that about his game before the RC - being on the team is all about his legacy.

[dbleag]

I heard that "Philsie" hit it out of bounds with an iron on #8 yesterday in the Napa event.

 

Sounds like the "brutal O.B." got him in the US.

[mukster]

I watched the story about the Famous Five on TGC recently. They beat USA on home soil in Jack's back yard, Muirfield. Faldo was talking about how much of a pleasure it was, beating USA there, with the course set up to favor the Americans.

 

If Europe beats USA on American soil at Whistling Straits in 2020, what does it mean? Do they blame and crucify the USA captain for not setting up the course so USA can win? Or did the planning committee pick a course that doesn't allow to set it up for 9000 yards with endless fairways so as to negate any Europe advantage?

 

Maybe at some point, somewhere in the future, the overwhelming sentiment will be "we got beaten by the better team this weekend, congratulations to them".

[Canoe Paddler]

I watched the story about the Famous Five on TGC recently. They beat USA on home soil in Jack's back yard, Muirfield. Faldo was talking about how much of a pleasure it was, beating USA there, with the course set up to favor the Americans.

 

If Europe beats USA on American soil at Whistling Straits in 2020, what does it mean? Do they blame and crucify the USA captain for not setting up the course so USA can win? Or did the planning committee pick a course that doesn't allow to set it up for 9000 yards with endless fairways so as to negate any Europe advantage?

 

Maybe at some point, somewhere in the future, the overwhelming sentiment will be "we got beaten by the better team this weekend, congratulations to them".

 

Blaming the other side for the course set up goes both ways. Lets not pretend this is something only the Americans do. I think it’s ridiculous when anyone does it. They’re all playing the same course.

[golfandfishing]

I watched the story about the Famous Five on TGC recently. They beat USA on home soil in Jack's back yard, Muirfield. Faldo was talking about how much of a pleasure it was, beating USA there, with the course set up to favor the Americans.

 

If Europe beats USA on American soil at Whistling Straits in 2020, what does it mean? Do they blame and crucify the USA captain for not setting up the course so USA can win? Or did the planning committee pick a course that doesn't allow to set it up for 9000 yards with endless fairways so as to negate any Europe advantage?

 

Maybe at some point, somewhere in the future, the overwhelming sentiment will be "we got beaten by the better team this weekend, congratulations to them".

 

Funny thing is, the favorable course set up for the US at that time was tucked pins and high rough. The same today is Euro favorable.

[Ghost of Snead]

Here's a piece out of Golfweek, if you read the whole thing, please tell me what Phil said when asked why he played so bad at the Ryder Cup that offends you all so much.

It’s a unique situation in that the way the Europeans did a great thing, they did the opposite of what we do when we have the Ryder Cup here. The fairways were 14 to 16 yards wide. Ben Hogan, who is the greatest ball-striker of all time, had a five percent margin of error. So if you hit the ball 300 yards, which we all hit it more than that, you need to have a 30-yard fairway to be able to hit it.

The fact is they had brutal rough, almost unplayable, and it’s not the way I play. I don’t play like that. And here (at Safeway) I can miss the fairways, I can get shots out of the rough up on the green and it’s playable.

And I’m 48. I’m not going to play tournaments with rough like that anymore. It’s a waste of my time. I’m going to play courses that are playable and that I can play aggressive, attacking, make a lot of birdies, (the) style of golf I like to play.

 

That is a thorough and interesting assessment.

To be clear, Mickelson is not criticizing the Europeans for setting up Le Golf National that way. In fact, he applauded them off the bat for setting up the course to their advantage.

His point is part of why he played so poorly at the Ryder Cup is it being on a narrow and penal course that is the antithesis of his style, and there’s no reason for him to seek out playing a layout like that going forward on his schedule.

 

 

The point of narrowing of the fairways after 300 yards was to discourage the big hitters taking driver, that doesn't explain why Phil was unable to hit the wide part of the fairway with a driving iron or a 3 wood. Everyone can complain that the rough was too much and the fairways too narrow but that was the risk part of taking it on with driver, it's called course management I believe (and stuffing it in the water on a par 3 has nothing to do with length of rough or width of fairway).

 

The Ryder Cup I watched was full of exciting golf, some of the forced recovery shots out of the rough were amazing from both sides and I enjoyed the tight ebb and flow of a lot of the matches. Proper golf that demonstrated the phenomenal skills these players have and also the gaps in some of their skill sets.

 

I would also point out (as I've not seen it mentioned) that one of Thomas Bjørn's cleverest set up decisions was moving the spectators further back so that they didn't trample down the rough and make it easy to play from, thus stymying the usual tactic of using the crowd as a backstop for an errant drive.

 

Maybe Phil should go sign up with his local PGA pro for a course management lesson.

 

Don't hate on me Team USA...just one mans opinion :)

 

 

No coincidence that the two worst players (Mickelson/Reed) during RC week finished 160th and 168th in 2018 total driving.

[Jacked_Loft]

I don't see a problem here at all. Other players avoid courses that "don't fit thier eye" are "too long" etc.

 

Phil is just saying he's not going to play courses that he can't score competitively on anymore. That the RC just proved to him that his own game just isn't solid enough anymore to compete on tight, heavily roughed tracks. I tip my hat to him accepting his own shortcomeings.

 

Steve Stricker did the same thing a couple of years ago by reducing his playing schedule by mostly weeding out the tracks he didn't like and/or couldn't score on. Nobody here flamed him then about it.

 

Guaranteed he knew that about his game before the RC - being on the team is all about his legacy.

 

Everybody in the world knew how he was playing. Like I wrote in a later post, if you get the call you go and try to do your best.

 

It would interest me to know: Has anyone ever turned down a RC appearence because of bad form? I can't say for certain, but I would believe not.

[Ghost of Snead]

I don't see a problem here at all. Other players avoid courses that "don't fit thier eye" are "too long" etc.

 

Phil is just saying he's not going to play courses that he can't score competitively on anymore. That the RC just proved to him that his own game just isn't solid enough anymore to compete on tight, heavily roughed tracks. I tip my hat to him accepting his own shortcomeings.

 

Steve Stricker did the same thing a couple of years ago by reducing his playing schedule by mostly weeding out the tracks he didn't like and/or couldn't score on. Nobody here flamed him then about it.

 

Guaranteed he knew that about his game before the RC - being on the team is all about his legacy.

 

Everybody in the world knew how he was playing. Like I wrote in a later post, if you get the call you go and try to do your best.

 

It would interest me to know: Has anyone ever turned down a RC appearence because of bad form? I can't say for certain, but I would believe not.

 

Probably not, but once again it's about respect for Phil's legacy. Keegan would've been a better pick (2nd in total driving) and was hot at the time. And Phil never should've been out in foursomes.

[Jacked_Loft]

Won't disagree with you on that. So can we agree that Phil shouldn't have got the call, and now he's told the world: don't call me for something like that again?

 

He's bacically told everyone that he's getting ready for the Champions Tour.

[JonnyW]

I don't see a problem here at all. Other players avoid courses that "don't fit thier eye" are "too long" etc.

 

Phil is just saying he's not going to play courses that he can't score competitively on anymore. That the RC just proved to him that his own game just isn't solid enough anymore to compete on tight, heavily roughed tracks. I tip my hat to him accepting his own shortcomeings.

 

Steve Stricker did the same thing a couple of years ago by reducing his playing schedule by mostly weeding out the tracks he didn't like and/or couldn't score on. Nobody here flamed him then about it.

 

Guaranteed he knew that about his game before the RC - being on the team is all about his legacy.

 

Everybody in the world knew how he was playing. Like I wrote in a later post, if you get the call you go and try to do your best.

 

It would interest me to know: Has anyone ever turned down a RC appearence because of bad form? I can't say for certain, but I would believe not.

 

 

Didn't Sergio turn down a place in 2010, or at least make it clear that he wouldn't accept a wildcard pick as his form was so bad? Someone correct me if I am wrong!

[tiderider]

I don't see a problem here at all. Other players avoid courses that "don't fit thier eye" are "too long" etc.

 

Phil is just saying he's not going to play courses that he can't score competitively on anymore. That the RC just proved to him that his own game just isn't solid enough anymore to compete on tight, heavily roughed tracks. I tip my hat to him accepting his own shortcomeings.

 

Steve Stricker did the same thing a couple of years ago by reducing his playing schedule by mostly weeding out the tracks he didn't like and/or couldn't score on. Nobody here flamed him then about it.

 

no one's critiquing him for the way he will choose his schedule in the future ... thought that was obvious ... we are critiquing him saying the rough was "almost unplayable" ... it was very playable if you did not hit into it ... he essentially gave them a back-handed compliment - "yeah, they won, but only because they set up the course in a way that limited my game" ... instead of changing his game to fit the course ... there's nothing wrong with rough that is actually penal ...

[Jacked_Loft]

I think it was obvious that he said he didn't want to "waste his time" on courses that "didn't fit " his playing style.

 

As he needs to have rough that he can play out of for his "playing style" he chooses in the future not to play courses that are set up like LGN.

 

I think what is obvious is that PM is/has traded off accuracy for length off the tee, is at best a mediocre bomb & gouge player and wants to play this way until his approaches, wedges and putter get hot enough for four days in a row so he can win.

[lowheel]

We Brits are loving this. Phil's reputation is shot to bits after Shinnecock and the RC. Hitting the ball on the cut grass was a premium at Golf National. It is at my local links courses where they have Gorse and Heather. Phil should quietly decline any further RC role and the same go for its cheap imitation aka The Presidents. Stick to resort type courses and leave the tough tracks to straight hitters.

 

Spot on with all points there. No doubt his pitch for the Captaincy will be "I want to put right as Captain what I couldn't do as a player - win."

 

Still think if I was worth £150 million I'd be able to afford a coach that gets me driving the ball better.

 

That said he's gone to bits since the split from Butch. Nothing has been particularly good.

 

You must have really hated prime seve then...

[lowheel]

this is likely his last playing RC (he could still make 2020 but realistically thats less than 50/50), hes pissy about getting over there and seeing a course he had no chance on. Its kinda both understandable and whiny at the same time. im sure he was pumped up for the event. itd be a lot different if he was 30 or even 40 with expectations of future cups. He is right tho that open/birdiefest setups are more fun to watch in matchplay and tho you cant expect the host to do anything other than set the course up to its advantage, the RC is more fun to watch that way.

 

phil also gets a lot of rope and he knows it (a lot of other guys would gotten knocked back for the watson stuff), so that emboldens him.

 

Gets a lot of rope? You are absolutely right. He did just about the same thing as Martha Stewart in the insider stock trading deal... She spends time in a federal penitentiary, and Phil walks. That is a lot of rope.

 

The guy should really be a lot more contrite.

 

Imagine if he was philandering left and right going to rehab and abusing prescriptions then getting a DUI. then he would really be in trouble in your books or maybe not??

Ease up on the hate man. This isn't about Tiger.

 

Tiger has said nothing about the course set up, he shouldn't be dragged into this. You're better than that.

 

Its not hate, its exposing the double standard here. Justin Rose and thomas pieters ripped the Hazeltine setup in 2016, no thread for that. Is it about insider trading accusations? no? maybe we can police ourselves to speak on the topic. This whole thread is hilarious "dear diary" for airing Phil grievances. Ironically havent heard the word hater once...

[lowheel]

Here's a piece out of Golfweek, if you read the whole thing, please tell me what Phil said when asked why he played so bad at the Ryder Cup that offends you all so much.

It’s a unique situation in that the way the Europeans did a great thing, they did the opposite of what we do when we have the Ryder Cup here. The fairways were 14 to 16 yards wide. Ben Hogan, who is the greatest ball-striker of all time, had a five percent margin of error. So if you hit the ball 300 yards, which we all hit it more than that, you need to have a 30-yard fairway to be able to hit it.

The fact is they had brutal rough, almost unplayable, and it’s not the way I play. I don’t play like that. And here (at Safeway) I can miss the fairways, I can get shots out of the rough up on the green and it’s playable.

And I’m 48. I’m not going to play tournaments with rough like that anymore. It’s a waste of my time. I’m going to play courses that are playable and that I can play aggressive, attacking, make a lot of birdies, (the) style of golf I like to play.

 

That is a thorough and interesting assessment.

To be clear, Mickelson is not criticizing the Europeans for setting up Le Golf National that way. In fact, he applauded them off the bat for setting up the course to their advantage.

His point is part of why he played so poorly at the Ryder Cup is it being on a narrow and penal course that is the antithesis of his style, and there’s no reason for him to seek out playing a layout like that going forward on his schedule.

 

 

The point of narrowing of the fairways after 300 yards was to discourage the big hitters taking driver, that doesn't explain why Phil was unable to hit the wide part of the fairway with a driving iron or a 3 wood. Everyone can complain that the rough was too much and the fairways too narrow but that was the risk part of taking it on with driver, it's called course management I believe (and stuffing it in the water on a par 3 has nothing to do with length of rough or width of fairway).

 

The Ryder Cup I watched was full of exciting golf, some of the forced recovery shots out of the rough were amazing from both sides and I enjoyed the tight ebb and flow of a lot of the matches. Proper golf that demonstrated the phenomenal skills these players have and also the gaps in some of their skill sets.

 

I would also point out (as I've not seen it mentioned) that one of Thomas Bjørn's cleverest set up decisions was moving the spectators further back so that they didn't trample down the rough and make it easy to play from, thus stymying the usual tactic of using the crowd as a backstop for an errant drive.

 

Maybe Phil should go sign up with his local PGA pro for a course management lesson.

 

Don't hate on me Team USA...just one mans opinion :)

 

 

No coincidence that the two worst players (Mickelson/Reed) during RC week finished 160th and 168th in 2018 total driving.

 

 

You might be forgetting a certain player thats trash in that category and i think finished 0-4...