Better late than never.
Phil Mickelson finally apologized for his U.S. Open meltdown four days after the fact.
“I know this should’ve come sooner, but it’s taken me a few days to calm down,” he said in a statement to reporters on Wednesday. “My anger and frustration got the best of me last weekend. I’m embarrassed and disappointed by my actions. It was clearly not my finest moment and I’m sorry.”
Mickelson, on his 48th birthday Saturday at the U.S. Open, chased down an errant putt on the 13th hole at Shinnecock Hills and hit the moving ball back toward the hole.
Rule 14-5 states you can’t hit a moving ball. He was assessed a two-stroke penalty while fans and others cried that it was grounds for disqualification.
Mickelson issued a half-hearted apology an hour after his round concluded and he later consulted with USGA officials.
“I didn’t mean it in any disrespect,” he repeatedly said. “If that’s the way people look at it, I apologize to them.”
Mickelson then tried to justify his actions, explaining he has considered doing it before and wanted to take the penalty and move on.
“I know it’s a two-shot penalty,” he said. “I didn’t feel like going back and forth and hitting the same shot again, so I took the two-shot penalty and moved on. It’s my understanding of the rules. I’ve had multiple times where I’ve wanted to do that, and I just finally did… I’d still be out there potentially.”
The penalty resulted in Mickelson carding a sextuple-bogey 10 on the par-4 hole. He finished tied for 48th at the U.S. Open — the lone major title missing from his resume — with a 16-over-par for the tournament.
