Amy Mickelson: “He’s A Good Man Who Had A Bad Moment”

Elliott Heath

Phil Mickelson's wife has spoken out about her husband's actions on Saturday at the US Open

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Amy Mickelson: “He’s A Good Man Who Had A Bad Moment”

The 2018 US Open is done and dusted but there is one moment that won’t be forgotten, Phil Mickelson’s rules infringement on the 13th hole on Saturday.

Related: Phil Mickelson explains moving ball incident

Lefty purposely hit a moving ball on the green as it was on its way down a hill, and revealed afterwards that it is something he has always wanted to do.

Mickelson also said he did it to gain a competitive advantage, as his ball was rolling off the green behind a bunker.

He was given a two-stroke penalty but could have been disqualified.

It was revealed that he offered to withdraw from the tournament on Saturday evening but USGA Chief Executive Mike Davis told him the two stroke penalty was enough.

The five-time has been heavily criticised for his actions and rightly so.

Was it a mad spur-of-the-moment mistake, or was it a pre-calculated move to save a shot or two like he said? Or was it all just to make a statement to the USGA that the course was getting silly? We’ll never truly know.

Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston, who was playing with Mickelson, wrote on Twitter that Phil didn’t mean it, “Phil is a ledge. It’s a moment that happens. It’s so tough out there. He didn’t mean it. It just happened. End of story,” he wrote.

Mickelson didn’t speak to the media after his final round of 69, where he raised his arms in the air after holing a putt on the 13th, but his wife Amy spoke to Golf.com whilst he was signing autographs post-round.

“He’s a good man who had a bad moment,” she said.

“He’s not perfect — I’m not, you’re not. … You might have a bad day at work or do something or say something that you regret. When [players] do it, it’s on a very large stage and there’s so much immediate reaction on Twitter and social media, it can overwhelm.

“It was very uncharacteristic.

“If he acted like that all the time, I think that’s different. I think everyone should be allowed to have a moment.”

And on whether Mickelson, who will be 49 at Pebble Beach next year, may have blown his final chance to win the US Open, Amy sounds confident he’ll get over the line one day.

“Does he want it? Desperately. More than anything.

“Will he get it? I believe he will. I’ve believed that since we were 20 years old. You have to have that self-belief for it to become a reality.”

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