Phil Mickelson at hole #13, US Open

[Eric S.]

Had Phil done that at Augusta he would have been disqualified immediately.

[6L6]

Definitely deserved a DQ.

He DEFLECTED THE BALL when he rehit it and that's a clear violation and DQ.

[EasyEd]

Hey All,

And equally disgusting they turned the golf course into a pitch and putt today.

The last day of a US Open should be hard and humble players.

-Ed-

[IndyHD28]

Originally Posted by EasyEd

Hey All,

And equally disgusting they turned the golf course into a pitch and putt today.

The last day of a US Open should be hard and humble players.

-Ed-

So what can they do after yesterday’s circus of errors? They HAD NO CHOICE but to water the greens and ease up on pin positions. The proof that they got it right is that everyone is taking about the golf and not the golf course. Oh, and BTW, you must not have noticed that the winner shot +1 for the tournament. Right where the USGA wants it.

[dwalton]

Originally Posted by aknow

Should have been a D/Q. He thought he was playing in a weekend gambling match? Do not respect him anymore.

Phhhht. He won’t be losing and sleep over losing your love. The course was crap, and everyone could see it. He played within the rules.

[Otterhound]

Let's face it . He's good and he plays lefty . Everyone knows that he should have learned to play righty .
Oh , what a travesty this was !
I think they should have forced him to play on without clubs .
I know , put him in the comfy chair ! lol

[KenL]

Oddly enough, Lefty is right-handed. He just plays left-handed. He can play right-handed, just prefers the sinister side.

[fray]

What he did is legal, just a 2 stroke penalty. Phil is a sportsman and knows the rules. The other golfer - Johnston - was really surprised, and I imagine he did what he did when he won last year, called his Mum and friends and proceeded to down a few pints. Good diversion from an other wise tough setup by USGA, glad it was on Saturday and not Sunday. Fans also need a lesson golf etiquette - but being close to NYC we get some different fan styles.....

[HodgdonExtreme]

What he did is NOT legal!!

The two stroke penalty ONLY applies when the action wasn't taken to gain an advantage.

Obviously that is subjective, but to my eyes, it seemed to me he did it because he thought a two stroke penalty would hurt less than what'd happen if he let the ball run off the green.....which is him having done it to gain an advantage.

Thus, it was an illegal action that should have earned him a DQ.

[6L6]

Originally Posted by HodgdonExtreme

What he did is NOT legal!!

The two stroke penalty ONLY applies when the action wasn't taken to gain an advantage.

Obviously that is subjective, but to my eyes, it seemed to me he did it because he thought a two stroke penalty would hurt less than what'd happen if he let the ball run off the green.....which is him having done it to gain an advantage.

Thus, it was an illegal action that should have earned him a DQ.

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[6stringpickin]

At least not as bad as putting Martin strings on a Taylor guitar!

[golfreggie]

David Duval of the golf channel and a former #1 presented that what Phil could have done and used the rules to his best advantage would have been to declare the resulting position of the putt "unplayable", and under the rules one option would have been to return to the original position and play again from there with a 1-shot penalty, which in all likelihood would have produced a lower score. I haven't looked it up, but did anyone else hear that from Duval?

[IndyHD28]

Originally Posted by golfreggie

David Duval of the golf channel and a former #1 presented that what Phil could have done and used the rules to his best advantage would have been to declare the resulting position of the putt "unplayable", and under the rules one option would have been to return to the original position and play again from there with a 1-shot penalty, which in all likelihood would have produced a lower score. I haven't looked it up, but did anyone else hear that from Duval?

Yes and DD is absolutely correct. But that wouldn’t have rubbed the USGA’s nose in it, which was the entire point of his actions meaning he should have been DQ’d. That’s a good ruling to remember in your own play.

[rokdog49]

All I know is that course reminded me of a lot of the garbage courses I have played on over the years and I thought it was funny watching all those Pro's
duffing and hacking all over the place.

[golfreggie]

Originally Posted by IndyHD28

Yes and DD is absolutely correct. But that wouldn’t have rubbed the USGA’s nose in it, which was the entire point of his actions meaning he should have been DQ’d. That’s a good ruling to remember in your own play.

I agree that Phil's point was to draw attention to the ridiculous conditions. And I tend to agree that since his intent was to influence the movement and not an accidental incident of hitting a ball that moved as a stroke was being made that the proper thing to do would be to DQ Phil. Even Phil can boo-boo and not behave in a manner that promotes the game. Can you imagine recreational golfers now running up to hit a bad putt to keep it from going off the green? Bad example by a good guy. I truly think he should fess up and apologize, it was not in the best interest of the game, and his intent was to influence the ball.