Amy Mickelson: "He's A Good Man Who Had A Bad Moment"
Phil Mickelson's wife Amy has spoken on his moving ball incident
Phil Mickelson's wife has spoken out about her husband's actions on Saturday at the US Open
Amy Mickelson: "He's A Good Man Who Had A Bad Moment"
The 2018 US Open is done and dusted but there is one moment that won't be forgotten, Phil Mickelson's rules infringement on the 13th hole on Saturday.
Related: Phil Mickelson explains moving ball incident
Lefty purposely hit a moving ball on the green as it was on its way down a hill, and revealed afterwards that it is something he has always wanted to do.
Mickelson also said he did it to gain a competitive advantage, as his ball was rolling off the green behind a bunker.
He was given a two-stroke penalty but could have been disqualified.
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It was revealed that he offered to withdraw from the tournament on Saturday evening but USGA Chief Executive Mike Davis told him the two stroke penalty was enough.
The five-time has been heavily criticised for his actions and rightly so.
Was it a mad spur-of-the-moment mistake, or was it a pre-calculated move to save a shot or two like he said? Or was it all just to make a statement to the USGA that the course was getting silly? We'll never truly know.
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Andrew 'Beef' Johnston, who was playing with Mickelson, wrote on Twitter that Phil didn't mean it, "Phil is a ledge. It’s a moment that happens. It’s so tough out there. He didn’t mean it. It just happened. End of story," he wrote.
Mickelson didn't speak to the media after his final round of 69, where he raised his arms in the air after holing a putt on the 13th, but his wife Amy spoke to Golf.com whilst he was signing autographs post-round.
"He’s a good man who had a bad moment," she said.
"He's not perfect — I'm not, you're not. … You might have a bad day at work or do something or say something that you regret. When [players] do it, it’s on a very large stage and there’s so much immediate reaction on Twitter and social media, it can overwhelm.
"It was very uncharacteristic.
"If he acted like that all the time, I think that’s different. I think everyone should be allowed to have a moment."
And on whether Mickelson, who will be 49 at Pebble Beach next year, may have blown his final chance to win the US Open, Amy sounds confident he'll get over the line one day.
"Does he want it? Desperately. More than anything.
"Will he get it? I believe he will. I’ve believed that since we were 20 years old. You have to have that self-belief for it to become a reality."
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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
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