Phil Mickelson caught in another rules snafu, assesses himself penalty this time
Oh, that tricky Phil Mickelson is at it again.
Mickelson made headlines at last month’s U.S. Open for hitting a moving ball before it rolled further away from the hole. His uncharacteristic actions resulted in a two-stroke penalty.
Wow. I've never seen that before.
Phil Mickelson ran after his putt before it stopped, which is a two stroke penalty.
Really, really odd #USOpen pic.twitter.com/Hu08036qjo
— Cam Rogers (@CamRogersLive) June 16, 2018
As usual, Lefty had a quippy answer, telling anyone who was offended by his mockery of the brutal course conditions to “toughen up,” before ultimately acknowledging he was in the wrong.
By the letter of the law, he probably should have been disqualified from the tournament. Instead, he received a two shot penalty.
Well, it looks like Mickelson has learned his lesson … sort of.
In Sunday’s final round of A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier, Mickelson broke another rule, but this time gave himself a two-shot penalty.
The infraction occurred on the seventh hole, where Mickelson clearly matted down some rough in front of the tee.
After consulting a rules official, Phil Mickelson assessed himself a 2-stroke penalty for improving his line of play (violation of Rule 13-2). pic.twitter.com/61GiY5ggaj
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 8, 2018
PGA rule 13-2 clearly states “Don’t improve your lie, the area of your intended stance or lie or swing, or your line of play by: moving, bending or breaking anything fixed or growing, except in fairly taking your stance or making your swing, or pressing anything down.”
There’s no question that Mickelson did pat down the grass with his club.
But the strange thing is why?
It obviously didn’t help his stance, since the tee was well behind the matted down area.
Mickelson was using an iron off the tee, so he certainly wasn’t going to have any problem hitting it over the rough.
Perhaps it helped his line of sight?
Whatever the case, Mickelson is No. 1 on the PGA Tour this year when it comes to rules controversies.
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