Phil Mickelson became the talk of tonight's round in the US Open when sanctioned for putting a moving ball.
Having taken on an original putt for bogey, the American jogged after the ball and proceeded to hit it again in the direction of the hole. Taking his two-shot penalty, the extremely unusual incident divided viewers between those who condemned the action, and those who saw the funny side of it.
Speaking in the wake of this stand out moment, Mickelson failed to bring viewers together from their rivaling positions.
Well behind on the leaderboard, Mickelson claims to have taken the two-shot penalty as it would have been worth more to him than a continued flurry of missed putts; "I didn't mean disrespect... it's meant to take advantage of the rules as best as you can..."
A loophole that some will consider against the general ethos of the game, Mickelson confirmed that there were "multiple times he wanted to do it" before today's incident on the 13th.
This hasn't gone down well with many golfing enthusiasts.
Mickelson's explanation is basically he knew it was a 2-shot penalty and was happy to take that. Which is blatantly against spirit of competition.
— Ewan Murray (@mrewanmurray) June 16, 2018
Mickelson's explanation is bizarre. Could his reasoning be equated to cheating?
— John Fogarty (@JohnFogartyIrl) June 16, 2018
"If someone is offended I apologise to them, but toughen up." - Mickelson not exactly giving a masterclass in post-incident PR #USOpen
— Phil Casey (@pcaseysafc) June 16, 2018
Has Mickelson, with his admission of intent, not broken Rule 1.2. Serious breach of this rule is disqualification pic.twitter.com/mLOZGPy4ST
— Greg Allen (@gregallenRTE) June 16, 2018
Although as many more are happy going along with this more light-hearted, tactful approach.
If you feel personally offended or disrespected by Phil Mickelson hitting a moving ball in the US Open, you really need to rethink your priorities in life. Good lord.
— Scott Hennigan (@scooterhennigan) June 16, 2018
I love golf. I can't stomach golf people. Phil Mickelson didn't "disrespect" the game. He took advantage of a rule while he was 100 strokes back. Grow up.
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) June 16, 2018
If you just lost respect for Phil Mickelson you are also no fun at parties, probably won’t eat gluten, and root for Ian Poulter. #USOpen
— Sam Rushing (@Rushing_sa) June 16, 2018
Pretty disgraceful for Phil Mickelson to steal my mini-golf move and not give me credit.
— Ross Tucker (@RossTuckerNFL) June 16, 2018
You can watch Mickelson's post-round interview below.
"At that time I didn't feel like going back-and-forth and hitting the same shot over. I took the two-shot penalty and moved on... I don't mean any disrespect."
Phil Mickelson on why he hit a moving ball on the 13th green at the #USOpen pic.twitter.com/M0psTf0D6k— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) June 16, 2018
