Lefty Takes A Two Stroke Penalty

I watched the replay of  Phil Mickelson swat at a putt that he made that was still moving in the U.S. Open yesterday.  The golf game that was televised on Saturday was not particularly good television and the golf tournament that is the most major of the majors in North America has a serious blemish after three days.

Lefty took a two stroke penalty for hitting the ball while it was still moving.  He might have been trying to make sure didn't roll further.  What he did wasn't the most professional I've ever seen on a golf course but it is hardly a hanging offense given the rest of stuff that has taken place all week.  He might have been disqualified if his name wasn't Mickelson, but that is for another day.

Even the USGA is going to try to slow the greens for the Sunday Round.  Golf is supposed to be fair but what happened to golfer that had later tee times wasn't fair to them when compared to the scores of players that had early tee times.

I don't have a complete answer for the all the reasons good players scored so poorly, but it seems clear that low scores on Friday were to no advantage on Saturday.

The U.S. Open is supposed to be challenging but the 2018 version might have been a "bridge too far".

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