Phil Mickelson - Glorified Cheating

The 2018 US Open descended into farce. Not so much because of the goofiness of the course set up, but because of Phil Mickelson.

Big Phil was on the 13th green with a putt for par (IIRC) and missed. He then chased after the moving ball and hit it back up the hill. Now the rules state that hitting a moving ball will incur a 2 shot penalty and could lead to disqualification. Phil took the 2 shot penalty, but wasn't disqualified. Now this is what he had to say:

"I know the rules and the ball was going to go off in a bad spot. I did not feel like continuing going back and forth. I would still be out there potentially. I've wanted to do it many times before and finally did," 


"If someone is offended I apologise, but toughen up. Knowing the rules is never a bad thing. You always want to use them in your favour," said Mickelson.


Views? Bear in mind he was about 11 over par at the time.

Well I hear of it but did not know the details.

He did the wrong thing in the heat of the moment. To me it is not nearly as bad as breaking the rule conscientiously after every point.

But about time fans realise sport is full of cheat. At all levels. If anything the higher the level, the bigger and more cunning the cheats.

But to push the reasoning further. Fans cheat too. You end up defending cheating cause fans put their hero above the rules.

Naxroy and Amrit are perfect examples of that. They excuse whatever Nadal does. The Murray fans do not want to see that Murray is less talented than other less susccesful players...etc....

It was quite extraordinary. 

I took the view as he was out of contention, it lessened the crime in my eyes, but it was his statement that followed because I can imagine some players (who are closer in contention) might pull that stunt. Especially when they know a disqualification won't loom

I don't know. Do fans cheat? They will always seek to justify certain actions or behaviours, however some have more credit in the bank (not just financial)

legendkillar wrote:
I don't know. Do fans cheat? They will always seek to justify certain actions or behaviours, however some have more credit in the bank (not just financial)

Of course they do. Well they lie to themselves.

At first they thought it was just OCD, well they were convincing themselves it was. And when Nadal told them he needed that extra time, they excused him for it cause who they support is more important than their ethic.

Tenez wrote:

legendkillar wrote:
I don't know. Do fans cheat? They will always seek to justify certain actions or behaviours, however some have more credit in the bank (not just financial)

Of course they do. Well they lie to themselves.

At first they thought it was just OCD, well they were convincing themselves it was. And when Nadal told them he needed that extra time, they excused him for it cause who they support is more important than their ethic.

Well we'd all be liars in that case. Had a chat with a colleague yesterday when talking about England and I said for example fans and media will say "expectations are low" England lose a game "England shouldn't be losing games like that" is the reaction that follows. So no-one really has the level of consistency I'd expect, purely because it becomes so emotive. 

Do you know what with Nadal and his time wasting. For me it was always "just get on with the bloody point and adjust yourself accordingly after game." but then you had Djokovic bouncing the fluff out of the balls. Cillic even worse. Sharapova doing the same. It became an accepted norm and still is. 

My anger in that instance is with the umpires and officials and the bodies for not enforcing the rules more frequently.

Whatever the reasons. In an ideal world, a tennis fan should not be supporting a player breaking the rule.

It's not because I am french that I have to support/ignore a wrong penalty decision in our favour.

Funnily I was discussing that penalty v Australia with my father who is a real fanatic and he did not want to see it the way it was shown. No different to Amri and Naxroy.

Or in any sport. If bending and breaking of rules go unpunished, who's to blame? The authorities for me. Athletes will push those thresholds until something is done. I am not condoning it, but they'll keep on pushing sadly.

The romantic in me wants to see fair sport and I have to say it's been rare in when I've seen it. 

That penalty annoyed me because the referee not interpreting or choosing not the honour the rule that the tackle was one movement. Ball first then player. Farcical.

Everybody wants to see fair sport....but some more than others. Nadal's fan would love to see him win without breaking the rules (just to shut me up amongst other things) but he can't/doesn;t so they "accomodate" with their ethics.

Legendkiller does a thread about golf and you hijack it with rambling on about me as you've done on every thread for the past 2 weeks.

Completely hypocritical, you're having a go at Nadal fans for not hating him because he picks his butt for 5 seconds, but said a while ago you think it's likely Federer dopes, and very recently you said you wouldn't mind it if Federer dopes.
Last week:

Tenez wrote:I woudl not mind fed had to dope to keep challenging the cheats

Apologies for continuing the hijack of your thread LK.

Would contribute but I'm afraid I don't follow golf

Did I touch a nerve?

Ten putting my John Travolta Pulp Fiction Foot Massage hat on. Even though Nadal's rule breaking in your mind has been detriment to the further success of Federer, have you considered that despite the increased time between points that against Djokovic for example, it would advantage him more than Nadal given his levels of fitness which has been considered superior to Nadal's? 

I won't accept the get out clause answer "Well he should've been DQ'd"

Missed this thread.

I tend to say Phil wasn't cheating. 2 penalty shots seemed a better option to him. But what if he had putted that moving ball? Next thing is that amateurs run to the hole to block the moving ball, and then it's just one shot you're losing..
So Phil did wrong, although to me it was more like a statement against the freaky conditions of that course. He was putting from 10 feet, missed by a fraction but due to the conditions the ball could have ended up 30 yards from the hole. Phil had enough of that nonsense and i can't really blame him.

gallery play wrote:Missed this thread.

I tend to say Phil wasn't cheating. 2 penalty shots seemed a better option to him. But what if he had putted that moving ball? Next thing is that amateurs run to the hole to block the moving ball, and then it's just one shot you're losing..
So Phil did wrong, although to me it was more like a statement against the freaky conditions of that course. He was putting from 10 feet, missed by a fraction but due to the conditions the ball could have ended up 30 yards from the hole. Phil had enough of that nonsense and i can't really blame him.

I agree the course was ridiculous, but it was before last time it was held there. Again the USGA not learning from the farce there last time.

For me it could be the opening of a can of worms. Especially if players are looking at similar conditions. 

I think it was the way his statement was geared to "bend the rules to your advantage if you can" which I found rather disappointing.