Phil Mickelson: ‘I was in the wrong’

• Phil Mickelson backs down over Hal Sutton comments

• “I was totally in the wrong,” said the 46-year-old

• He said Sutton put him ‘in a position to fail’ in 2004

Phil Mickelson has apologised for his comments directed a former US captain Hal Sutton, admitting he was ‘totally in the wrong’.

At his pre-Ryder Cup press conference on Wednesday, Mickelson said that in pairing him and Tiger Woods together at the 2004 Ryder Cup, Sutton had put the pair ‘in a position to fail’ and that they ‘failed monumentally’ as a result, losing both of their matches.

Sutton hit back, saying Mickelson was ‘self-serving’ as he’d changed Callaway driver and metalwoods the event before the match at Oakland Hills.

This prompted an apology from the five-time major winner – not ideal preparation on the eve of the Ryder Cup.

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CONTINUES BELOW…

“I’ve communicated with him,” Phil Mickelson told Golf Channel’s Tim Rosaforte. “I feel awful. It was never meant to be like that. I was trying to use an example of how a captain can have a strong effect. Unfortunately, it came across the way it did.

“I was totally in the wrong. I never should have brought that up. I used an extreme example the way decisions can affect play, and I never should have done that because it affected Hal.”

US captain Davis Love III told Golf Channel that efforts were made to smooth things over shortly after Sutton’s response.

“Tiger, Phil and myself were trying to get hold of Hal after dinner,” Love told Rosaforte. “He had enough of it and gone to bed. He immediately texted back this morning, saying, a captain’s job is to put out fires. You guys go get ‘em. Let’s move on.”

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Phil Mickelson apology :: Your thoughts

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