Phil Calls Out the USGA

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.

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What If: Phil Mickelson Wins the 2006 U.S. Open

After seeing it replayed multiple times on the Golf Channel recently(yes, I do fairly frequently tune to the Golf Channel), I always wonder what would have happened in the world of golf had Phil Mickelson won the 2006 U.S. Open. Before the monumental collapse at 18, Mickelson had won the previous two majors and looked like he would hold on to win his third. At the same time, Tiger was having a subpar season, although a lot of that could be the attributed to the illness and eventual death of his late father Earl Woods. Still, even with Vijay's brief run at the top of the World Golf Rankings in 2004, no one had seriously challenged Tiger's reign as the dominant figure in golf. Now, it looked like Phil, who always possessed the most complete besides Tiger, was on the cusp on putting a serious dent in Tiger's control. An awful drive, even poorer second shot and double-bogey later, and Phil was left to explain how he let go of that elusize U.S. Open title. Two months and two major wins later, and Tiger had left all doubt on who's number one to rest.

However, fast forward to today and we may be back on the verge of a Tiger-Phil showdown. Phil has hired Tiger's old swing coach, Butch Harmon, and now appears to be driving the golf ball better than he has in years. At his recent Players victory, Phil played the weekend from the middle of the fairway. Even while he was winning back-to-back majors in 2005-2006, Phil would often be miraculously extracting himself from awful situations and would avoid making a big numbers. During the final round of last year's fateful Open, Phil hit 2 fairways all day. The final hole collapse may have actually been a blessing in disguise, as it caused Phil to reevaluate his swing and eventually call on Butch Harmon, the best swing coach in the golfing world, to correct his flaws. Now, it looks like Phil may be more poised than even to make a serious run at Tiger.

In the end, the Winged Foot wreck may turn out to be a good thing for Phil. Winning there may have been fool's gold, as Phil has needed to address his driving problem for a long time. While he managed to reign the swing in some for his awesome 2004 season, his struggles have dated all the way back to when he purposely altered the swing during Tiger's first dominant run in order to gain distance. Now, he seems to be committed to finding fairways, even if that means giving up 10-15 yards off his drives. On the other hand, Tiger keeps on struggling with his driver and has to extract himself on far too many holes. While I would be crazy to predict a grand shift, do not count out Phil making a serious run at Tiger's perch at the top of the golf word.

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