Update: Phil Mickelson felt it best to walk back his prior comments, issuing what seemed to be a truly heartfelt apology during an interview with Golf Channel on Thursday.

"[Hal Sutton] and I have communicated. He knows how sorry I am that I brought that up. I never should have used a specific example and put him totally on the spot. I wasn't thinking," explained Mickelson.

"I was trying to convey the importance of the captains and so forth by using a specific example, and I never should have done that. I put him in an awkward situation. One of the things we really tried to do this year was bring back the past captains and create this inclusive, family feel, and I made him feel -- unfortunately -- awkward. I'm really, really sorry about that. He's a big part of the Ryder Cup family. ...

"I feel awful that I created that negativity. I'm so, so sorry."

Original story

There is a zero percent chance Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump prepared as much for the presidential debate on Monday night as Phil Mickelson prepared for his Ryder Cup press conference. Mickelson trains for his press conference the same way most golfers work on their putting, and his showmanship was on full display on Wednesday at Hazeltine.

It started off innocuously.

"I think that when you look back on what the difference is -- when players are put in a position to succeed, more often than not, they tend to succeed," said Mickelson. "When they are put in positions to fail, most of the time they tend to fail. This is a year where we feel as though Captain Love has been putting us in a position to succeed. He's taken input from all parties. He's making decisions that have allowed us to prepare our best and play our best, and I believe that we will play our best."

Whew. Mickelson did not throw anybody under the bus or say anything inflammatory.

"It all starts with the captain," Mickelson continued.

Uh-oh.

"That's the guy that has to bring together 12 strong individuals and bring out their best and allow them on a platform to play their best," continued Mickelson. "That's the whole foundation of the team.

"You play how you prepare. And in major championships, when we win or play well in majors, it's because we prepared properly for those events. And that allowed to us bring out our best golf. And in a Ryder Cup, you have to prepare properly for the event. In 2004, Tiger and I were paired together and we ended up not playing well. Was that the problem? I mean, maybe. But we were told two days before that we were playing together. And that gave us no time to work together and prepare. He found out the year before when we played at The Presidents Cup in 2003 that the golf ball I was playing was not going to work for him.

Mickelson said he had to go practice with Tiger's golf ball (players have to hit each other's ball in foursome matches) and that it took away from his Ryder Cup preparation. Brandel Chamblee of the Golf Channel called out Tiger and Mickelson this week for not displaying good leadership over the years, specifically at that 2004 Ryder Cup where they were paired together twice.


"I'm not trying to ... knock anybody here, because I actually loved how decisive Captain [Hal] Sutton was. I feel like that's a sign of great leadership to be decisive. Had we had time to prepare, I think we would have made it work and could have had some success. But that's an example of starting with the captain, that put us in a position to fail and we failed monumentally, absolutely. But to say, well, you just need to play better; that is so misinformed because you will play how you prepare," explained Mickelson.

"I've had to be accountable for that decision 12 years ago. Even a month ago, I hear there's an analyst on the Golf Channel that accuses me of being a non-team player for having to go out and work on an isolated hole away from the team, away from my preparation."

So much for that innocuous statement.

Mickelson and Woods went 0 and 2 as partners in 2004. They got beat in the first match by Colin Montgomerie and Padraig Harrington and later on by Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood. I understand what Mickelson is saying here, too. He is correct about captains having to put their golfers in a position to succeed. I'm not totally sure it was necessary to dig up dirt from 12 years ago, but he certainly got the point across.

Also, it has to be encouraging to U.S. fans that Lefty said Love has prepared them well and helped them to succeed. No excuses this time. None at all. The U.S. is the favorite, thinks it will win and should win. Don't let anyone tell you differently.