Phil Mickelson Opens Up On US Open Moving Ball Incident

Hear what Phil Mickelson had to say about his moving ball incident at the US Open

Phil Mickelson Opens Up On US Open Moving Ball Incident
Screenshot: Golf Channel

Lefty spoke to the Golf Channel's Todd Lewis on his moving ball incident at the US Open

Phil Mickelson Opens Up On US Open Moving Ball Incident

 

Phil Mickelson has spoken out once again over his US Open moving ball incident, this time in a TV interview with the Golf Channel.

Lefty apologised for his actions last week in a text to reporters, saying that he was "embarrassed and disappointed" after he overshadowed the entire US Open by purposely hitting a moving ball on the green.

However, he has spoken again on his actions on the 13th green in the third round at Shinnecock and now that the dust has settled, he appears to have his head straight.

Whilst he initially said he purposely did it to gain an advantage, Mickelson now accepts that his actions were wrong.

Phil was in Chicago promoting the KPMG Women's PGA Championship and spoke to the Golf Channel's Todd Lewis on the incident.

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"It wasn’t the right decision,” Mickelson said.

“It took me a little while for my anger and frustration to subside enough to where I could see clearly that I made not my best move. It wasn’t my best moment. And so I apologised. So Now, moving forward, the best thing I can do is to start promoting the game again in a positive way.”

Related: Amy Mickelson - "He's a good man who had a bad moment"

Asked whether his actions at Shinnecock will affect his legacy:

“I have pretty thick skin and I’m aware that I’ll probably hear about this for some time. Fortunately, I can take it, and I hope at some point we’ll all be able to laugh at it.”

“It wasn’t the right decision, it wasn't the smart decision. The Rules of Golf actually address that for next year, so I don’t think anybody will be looking at it as a smart play. But at the time I just really didn’t care about the stroke difference.”

Related: Jordan Spieth on Mickelson incident - "I laughed"

Mickelson is probably fed up of talking about Shinnecock already and soon golf fans will be fed up of hearing about it.

We won't ever forget what happened on the 13th green on US Open Saturday, but let's hope this now draws a line under it.

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Elliott Heath
News Editor

Elliott Heath is our News Editor and has been with Golf Monthly since early 2016 after graduating with a degree in Sports Journalism. He manages the Golf Monthly news team as well as our large Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. He covered the 2022 Masters from Augusta National as well as five Open Championships on-site including the 150th at St Andrews. His first Open was in 2017 at Royal Birkdale, when he walked inside the ropes with Jordan Spieth during the Texan's memorable Claret Jug triumph. He has played 35 of our Top 100 golf courses, with his favourites being both Sunningdales, Woodhall Spa, Western Gailes, Old Head and Turnberry. He has been obsessed with the sport since the age of 8 and currently plays off of a six handicap. His golfing highlights are making albatross on the 9th hole on the Hotchkin Course at Woodhall Spa, shooting an under-par round, playing in the Aramco Team Series on the Ladies European Tour and making his one and only hole-in-one at the age of 15 - a long time ago now!

Elliott is currently playing:

Driver: Titleist TSR4

3 wood: Titleist TSi2

Hybrids: Titleist 816 H1

Irons: Mizuno MP5 5-PW

Wedges: Cleveland RTX ZipCore 50, 54, 58

Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG #5

Ball: Srixon Z Star XV