Phil Calls Out the USGA
>> Friday
First, I'll preface this by stating that I'm a huge Phil Mickelson fan and admitted Phil apologist. The catastrophe at Winged Foot ranks as one the five most painful moments for me a sports fan.
Anyway, getting to the point, Phil complained during today's post-round press conference about injuring himself while preparing for the U.S. Open a few weeks ago. For the last three and half years, Phil has spent an extraordinary time beforehand preparing for major championships, going to the host course weeks in advance of the majors to scope out the host course and construct a gameplan. Since adopting this strategy, Phil has won 3 majors and contended in many others. As with most U.S. Open's, the rough at Oakmont is extraordinarily tough and thick. Knowing he would face tough shots in the rough during the tournament, Phil sprained his wrist while practicing shots in the greenside rough. While understandably upset with a performance that will likely have him for the weekend, Phil has an excellent point about having to risk himself to serious injury by just going through his normal major preparation. The announcers at NBC, defending the USGA and hoping not to ruffle any feathers with the powerful group, wonder why Phil would actually practice out of the hard rough beforehand.
Personally, I think it's ridiculous that someone who's busting his ass to become the best in his profession suffers a setback through his normal preparation. Along with further highlighting the unnecessary brutality that defines the USGA, it exemplifies the risk that every player undertakes by trying to win one of the biggest events each year. Besides Mickelson, notable pros like Vijay Singh and Steve Stricker have suffered injuries while competing this week at Oakmant. It's an absolute farce that what is supposed to represent our national championship involves such insane mental and physical pressure. Maybe one day the USGA actually construct a fair test for the U.S. Open, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
Posts
4 comments:
Please, an athelete suffers an injury and it becomes a case of the grass is too stiff, the grass is too tall? Atheletes suffer injuries in other sports and they work through it whenever they can. It's called toughness, determination and mental focus. Phil is notorious for breaking down, for not living up to his own hype and just straight out lacking the grit to get it done. IF the guy got hurt seriously well that's tough and sorry see you next time. But, with Phil you could almost see that he already had the injury and his complaint in readiness as his excuse, his crutch, his cause. I seem to remember another player blasting his ball out from behind a rock in a tournament and not carrying on about it, but staying focused on his game and not his bad luck or challenges. The guy just doesn't get it done and he disappears, to lick his wounds as soon as things don't go his way. He's soft and he acts like he's soft. I can't believe he's even taken seriously, I don't think most of the other players on the tour do so.
I'm kind of having a hard time feeling sorry for Phil here as well because
1) I imagine all the other golfers had the opportunity to practice in the same rough, and could just as easily have gotten hurt, and
2) Phil would have had to play that course anyway, so he could have gotten hurt then, and
3) Perhaps Phil could just hit it in the fairway and get it on the green without going in the rough in the first place (dripping with sarcasm).
As for the "excessive demands of the USGA," I don't know much about the inner workings of golf, but doesn't it make sense that the country's national championship should provide the stiffest competition and the hardest courses? If we want an easy course and for the winner to be like 10 under, let's have Ernie Els and Tiger knock a few around at the Par 3 near my house for the US Open.
Funny, it's kind of hard to be mentally and physcially weak and win 30 tour events, 3 majors, and be a sure Hall of Famer. With the fans, he's the most popular player on tour. Frankly, he had no business even playing the first two rounds. Still, he toughed it out and still beat 90-plus guys, missing the cut right on the number.
Addressing Sever's concerns, Phil basically got punished for practicing more than every player not named Tiger. He could have gotten hurt anyway, but that doesn't change the fact that the rough is overly dangerous. Now, he consistently found during the tournament, but that's because his wrist really affected his swing. He could not properly execute the quick hand moves needed in the swing, especially on contact. It was bad enough that he did not even carry a driver in his bag during the second round. Also, you're way offbase on the difficulty thought. If I wanted to watch golfers knock the ball all over the course, I'd go watch the hackers at my local club. I want to see quality shots rewarded, not slip off the edge of the fairway into an impossible lie or a ball fall off the green 100 feet because it missed the target by a yard. There's a reason why the PGA Championship has become the most entertaining major championship and the U.S. Open resembles going to the dentist and having your wisdom teeth pulled. The PGA of America understands how to present a tough, yet capable test. The USGA does not.
I've been with Zuch on that difficulty factor even since he brought it up a while back. Knowing very about golf, I came up with a baseball analogy--the only mechanism by which I understand anything in any aspect of life.
What Zuch is describing reminds me of games at pre-humidor Coors Field and what that did to the pitchers. To me, the conditions so drastically altered the nature of pitching that I wasn't watching the particular pitcher but odd contortion of him playing a slightly different game.
Post a Comment