An unintentionally comedic moment was presented when Phil Mickelson, Louis Osthuisen and Shane Lowry headed for their second shots in the starting hole of the Country Club on Friday.
“Hey Louis,” cried the Boston man. “Great job for last week’s victory.”
It was Charles Schwarzel who won the opening of the LIV Golf event at the Centurion Club. While it may be easy to confuse South African golfers – neither Schwarzel nor Osthuisen have much in profile – this has been a subtle nod to the general or deliberate ignorance of the LIV scene. This is happening somewhere on the air, but the paying audience does not go into more detail. Unless, of course, the player has made a remarkable mention of the LIV team event, which is even lower in the public consciousness.
During the gallery’s wandering shout – this group played the back nine first – Mickelson was 11 above the 122nd US Open. In just 13 months of conquering hearts and minds with the glorious triumph in the US PGA Championship, Mickelson has become an inappropriate race. He is destined to never win his national Open Championship, which is a remarkable difference in his otherwise iconic career. Now it is also tainted.
Mickelson’s position is much more than sitting in his trophy cabinet. He embarked on such an incredible act of self-sabotage that he almost felt sorry for him as he limped to the finish line of the second round. He reached that point after shooting with 73 errors for a total of 11 over par. This marks the third missed cut in Mickelson’s last six US Open appearances. He also smashed the spectator’s head with his shot with the one in the 3rd, which rather summed up his wayward game.
Any sense that Mickelson, the boy on the poster for Saudi Arabia’s ongoing model of golf destruction, would be annoyed in Brooklyn proved unfounded. “Go them, Phil” and “You’re the man, Phil” were the regular shouts. Still, it was all muted, as if those behind the ropes didn’t know exactly how to formulate their relationship with the 52-year-old.
It may be that much of this mob believes that Mickelson has suffered enough, after weeks of investigating his thoughts on human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia and 9/11. Perhaps part of the US Open audience – men of a certain age – have faced gambling problems and sympathize with Mickelson’s admission of the same. However, there is a significant difference between the reception given to Mickelson in Brooklyn and the flattering praise he once received at every turn. Things will never be the same again for the six-time big winner, once such a big manipulator of public sentiment. His 36-hole holes looked completely bleak.
Mickelson, who is banned from the PGA Tour, seems to have a reduced character. There is sadness behind the sunglasses. He has not made a name for himself in the media, but the $ 200 million question is whether Mickelson regrets entering into talks with the Saudis, which he admits was a lever trick before reaching the point where he kicked out of the PGA tour. Maybe he doesn’t care; the behavior and loss of sponsors suggest otherwise.
While Mickelson worked, world number one Scotty Scheffler came marauding across the field with the kind assistance of 67. Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, John Ram and others sat firmly in the PGA Tour camp against the LIV threat. As long as this remains the case, the LIV will stay in the background instead of gaining first-class status in the sport.
LIV, led by Greg Norman, is expected to announce the commitment of more players on Monday. Next week we will also see that DP World Tour will confirm its position on the existential threat. Smart money will have a stronger alliance between those in Wentworth and the PGA Tour.
Mickelson will appear next time the circus LIV – 54 holes, no cut, guaranteed dollars – hit Oregon at the end of the month. Until then, he will hope to have solved the glaring problems. In addition, he must somehow make peace with himself. According to all available evidence in Brooklyn, he is far from reaching this position.
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