Mickelson intentionally violates basic golf rule en route to sextuple bogey

By Ross Kelly June 16, 2018 at 12:53pm

Phil Mickelson hoped to celebrate his 48th birthday on Saturday with a race up the leaderboard of the U.S. Open.

Instead, Mickelson celebrated his birthday with one of the most bizarre things you could ever see on a golf course.

Clearly frustrated with the way his third round was going, Mickelson appeared to intentionally hit a ball that was still moving while putting on the 13th hole at Shinnecock Hills.

Phil Mickelson has had enough of hole 13 at the #USOpen pic.twitter.com/MKeYBHSLDJ

— FOX Sports Radio (@FoxSportsRadio) June 16, 2018

After shooting 4-over through the first 12 holes, Mickelson had an 18-foot putt for a bogey on No. 13. The putt trickled past the hole and then Mickelson began to jog over to the ball, which is unusual in itself.

Then with the ball still clearly rolling, he hit it again back to the hole, where it again missed and went past the cup.

Mickelson then decided to mark the ball, as the video ends you can hear announcer Joe Buck nearly stuttering as he says, “Tha … That’s stunning!”

Of course, Mickelson’s actions inspired plenty of reactions on social media.

(Extremely Joe Buck voice)

“Welcome friends, and if you’re just joining us, Phil Mickelson has lost his mind.”

— Kevin Van Valkenburg (@KVanValkenburg) June 16, 2018

"Thank you for calling the US Open Rules Violation Home-Viewer Hotline. If this is about Phil Mickelson, press 1."

"All operators are busy at this moment. Please stay on the line."

— Pat Lynch (@patlynchsports) June 16, 2018

Phil Mickelson’s misstep at the US Open was the most stunning thing I’ve seen on a golf course since the time Happy Gilmore ripped off a guy’s shirt, punched him so hard that he rolled down a hill and then handed the guy’s shirt to another patron at the 1996 Waterbury Open.

— Scott Bell (@ScottBellDMN) June 16, 2018

Mickelson would then miss his third putt before sinking it in on the fourth try. That would normally be a quadruple bogey and a score of eight for the par-4 hole, but with Mickelson hitting a moving ball, he was assessed a two-stroke penalty.

Thus, he received a score of 10 on the par 4 — a sextuple bogey. He would shoot 1-over on the remaining five holes to give him a score of 81, or 11-over par for the round.

Rule 14-5 of the USGA Rule Book states, “A player must not make a stroke at his ball while it is moving,” and such a breach would result in a two-stroke penalty.

Should Phil Mickelson be disqualified from the U.S. Open?

But some are wondering if Mickelson deserves to be disqualified from the tournament. You could argue that Mickelson was in violation of Rule 33-7:

“If a Committee considers that a player is guilty of a serious breach of etiquette, it may impose a penalty of disqualification under this Rule.”

This is certainly not what Mickelson had in mind for his birthday, and he’ll have to wait another year in his quest for the career grand slam.

Mickelson has won every other major tournament, but he’s finished second at the U.S. Open a record six times, including at this same golf course of Shinnecock Hills in 2004.

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