It's pretty crazy that we are talking about the 2004 Ryder Cup in 2016, but here we are. Phil Mickelson tossed 2004 United States captain Hal Sutton under the bus on Wednesday in what has become somewhat of a tradition for him at these events.
"I'm not trying to ... knock anybody here, because I actually loved how decisive Captain [Hal] Sutton was," said Mickelson on Wednesday about Sutton pairing Mickelson with Tiger Woods in 2004 (the duo lost two matches).
"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.
Mickelson's big complaint was that he and Woods didn't know they would play together until two days before the event and didn't have time to get used to hitting each other's golf balls in foursomes play (alternate shot). Of course, they also only played one foursomes match together.
Anyway, Sutton was told about Mickelson's comments on Wednesday, and his reaction was pretty, uh, intense.
"Somebody has to be the fall guy. If it needs to be me, I can be that," said Sutton. "The world saw what happened. They saw it. I didn't have to cover it up. I find it amusing that that's an issue at the 2016 Ryder Cup. I think Phil better get his mind on what he needs to have it on this week instead of something that happened 10 years ago. If I still need to should the blame for Phil's poor play then I'll do that."
I sort of see both sides here. Mickelson has a point about preparation and its place in the team game of the Ryder Cup, but Sutton is right to say that it's a little weak to bring it up a decade later. Mickelson was using it as an example of how the U.S. can be better, and I think the two are probably closer philosophically than either one would care to admit. Anyway, welcome to Ryder Cup week!
