When Phil Mickelson made a point Saturday afternoon of saying the greens at the Quail Hollow Club are "some of the worst-designed greens" on the PGA Tour, it wasn't a one-off comment.
Mickelson said it on television, to a radio interviewer and to print reporters. He had a point to make and he made sure he made it.
He was still steaming from what was a terrific two-putt at the 18th green. He hit his approach shot 58 feet past the hole but because of the hole location and the slope, Mickelson couldn't try to make the putt. He had to play to the right of the hole and try to make the eight-footer for par. He did but he didn't like it.
Almost to make a point, Mickelson didn't have his caddie, Jim 'Bones' Mackay leave the flagstick in even though he was on the green. He was trying to make the putt.
When asked about what happened on 18, Mickelson used it to air his frustrations.
"For as beautifully designed as this golf course is from tee to gren, the greens are some of the worst-designed greens we have on tour and 18 is one of them," Mickelson said. "I would say 18 is the worst on tour except it's not the worst on this golf course, 12 is, and we have some ridiculous putts here that you just can't keep on (the green).
"But my mistake there was hitting it past the pin. I know that green is ridiculous. I never should have put myself in that position."
For a tournament that gets so much praise -- Mickelson has been among its strongest supporters -- it was an abrupt change to hear such sharp criticism. It may not change anything but it probably made Mickelson feel better to get it out.
And some of his fellow pros are probably glad he said it, too.
Saturday, May 01, 2010
Phil Takes A Big Rip At Quail's Greens
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27 comments:
The players cried so much about 17 they changed that green.
In my opinion, anyone who gets to play golf for a living, and is as sucessful at it as Phil is, should count his blessings, just say thank you Lord, and keep his mouth shut. It takes most people a lifetime to make what Phil makes when he wins one tournament.
Here we go again. Be glad that you have a job and don't raise sand about anything. We don't do things like that here and if you don't like it, don't play in our tournament. No one dare try to ad any constructive ideas about how you could improve the course. Yussa massa bossman!
Pro golfers are some of the most pampered egotistical little snots in the world of professional athletics. These whiners have hissy fits if someone breathes when they are putting. I will be impressed with 'pro golfers' when they can perform under real pressure - being heckled for instance - or working with some sort of 'shot clock'. Imagine a pro baseball player coming to the plate and asking for 'quiet' so he can concentrate on the 90 mph fastball being chucked at him from 60' 6" away. Or a place kicker asking for quiet so he can concentrate on the 52 yard field goal with 1 second on the clock, down 2 points at the end of the 4th quarter. Phil ought to just shut up and golf....nice guy by all accounts but a pampered whiner none the less
I'm sorry Phil chose to embarrass a great club and great event - one of the tour's most hospitable. He could say the same thing about Augusta, but doesn't. Nobody told him to hit his ball to the wrong position. I'm certain that Johnny Harris would have been glad to hear Phil out on this matter.
I don't agree with the way Phil made his point, but I do agree with his point. I don't believe there should be a putt on any green that you can't try to make. However, I think Augusta has a couple as well. Remember where Tiger had to chip the ball on #6 to make that awesome shot a couple years ago?
Get over it, Phil. You get to play golf for a living. Enough said.
Who cares? Phil is always extremely complimentary about this course and this tournament. He says one thing (which is true) and Joe Bloggers have to make a big deal about it.
You guys obviously haven't taken a close look at Quail's greens. The only things missing are the windmill and the clown's mouth.
Well you have to admit QH is lacking as one of the PGA tour sites with ZERO background scenery or natural backdrops. While its well kept & does the best it can it still is no Pebble Beach Pacific Palasides or Palm Beach Gardens etc. Not even close.
The very least QH could do is accomodate the top golfers whims.
Sounds to me like the real whiners are posting against his earned right to comment. We live in America and god bless is candor. We all have tough days and we all bitch at the end of some of them. Get over it.
FIGJAM - google it.
If you post anything negative about Johnny Harris, silver spoon GReen will have it removed. I guess little man does not want to risk not being allowed to play the course on media day. What a frcking joke this Charlotte Observer. THnaks for the fee online edition or I would NEVER read this liberal censored rag. Oh for the days o David Poole, the best ever!!!
8:43, you have it all wrong.
Quail wants perfection. If a great golfer like Phil Mickelson has a complaint, I'm sure the PTB at Quail, starting with Johnny Harris, want to hear all about it.
It amazes me how fickle people are. We want athletes to express themselves and when they do, we criticize them. He was just being honest about how he felt about the greens. Would we all feel better if he lied? How awful that someone says something critical about QH!! He doesn't like the greens so big deal! I'm sure the same people who are expressing their outrage over Phil whining are the same people who whine at their jobs.
This article couldn't have been written by Green jr or sr. It didn't mention Tiger Woods once (or 47 times)
IMHO the goal is to have a great tournament with the best golfers in the world playing in the tournament. I would think this ensures success for the businesses and economy of Charlotte and the citizens of the area get to be a part of a world class event. If the top five golfers agreed with Phil and chose to play somewhere else this would be no more than a Pro-Am Tournament and the golden goose would be dead. Great Tournament, now improve it before competition makes it a memory.
FIGHAM ? The mutha of all FIGHAM was the now defunct Paper Tiger.
PM is heady enuff but cant touch HoHop Horndog PT who soon will be missing his cleaned out bank account transferred to Sweden.
This is a PGA double whammy since if he bombs for good even the SexScandal$$ image is 4ever tarnished & dead too. Damn.
"Worst" was a little extreme.....which obviously stemmed from frustration. It's a tough green....golf is tough....i didnt know there were design rules. Someone in here said there should never be a putt on a green that you cant make. What? So if you land your ball behind a tree and cant get on in regulation....is that unfair? Golf courses are hard....thats what makes it so great when you play good on it. Shut up Phil....you whiner.
Amen brother Phil !
A tenet of sound green design is that it should be possible to make a putt from any point on the green. Phil's putt on 18 was not possible to make. Hence, the design violated one the main tenet's of green design; Phil was correct in his assessment of poor design.
Golf is supposed to be fun, both to play and to watch. It is not fun to be faced with a putt that is not possible to make, nor is it much fun as a fan to watch a putt that cannot be made.
This tournament is on the brink of surpassing Murifield,Bay Hill and TPC.Also,the Tour Championship is played on a mudfield.There is talk of hosting a PGA or Ryder Cup at QH.Now is the time to take Phil's comments very seriosly,and make corrections to these horribly goofy greens.
Additionally,please stop the new practice of calling the fans PATRONS".You are not Augusta.
I do not agree Markep. "Tenet of sound green design" doesn't do it for me.....nor many others. I've seen Phil chip it off the green numerous times....why was it so awesome when he did it then? I can see that an impossible putt is infuriating (for most of mine are).....but so are many golf shots. If it is the worst design on the PGA, then complain about it before you JUST got beat by it. Phil looks bad by complaining and he made QH look bad because so many people out there will take his word for it. They will probably redesign it.....and the greens can be like every other course's greens. Also, I am not on board with your whole "fun" explanation. This is a tournament worth a ton of money. Fun to watch? Yes. Fun to play? I dont see many of them "having fun." It is supposed to be a tough sport that takes a lot of work, fun is not a prerequisite. And you know what would have been fun? To watch Phil chip it.
If, while your ball is on the green, the best alternative is to actually chip the ball, I believe it is pretty indisputable that something is wrong. The prospect of actually encouraging players to take divots on a green should be avoided.
At a minimum, encouraging a player to chip while on the green implies a bad hole location, if not simply bad green design.
There is really no secret around the PGA that Quail Hollow is among the favorites to hold a Major Championship in the distant future. However, if the greens aren't up to snuff, then they will need to be reworked to make it happen. So if #12 and #18 are an issue, which they appear to be... then the time and money will be put into them to get them right. It's as simple as that.
Sometimes it takes somebody like a Mickelson to 'get the ball rolling'. No pun intended....
Ok I concede. They should be redesigned to make QH a more respectable course and a contender for a major. For a major tournament, that green is not 100% fair. I still lost a little of my liking for Phil for "whining" about it and tossing around "worst evers"........maybe it's just his whiney voice that gets to me.
The pros want everything so perfect that it would be best if they built an artificial surface course on the plains and let them play there. Then they couldn't complain about the things that make golf fun for the rest of us. When Phil studies the history of golf courses, and begins to speak knowledgeably about it then he will stop making ignorant self-centered statements. Someone should ask him why he can't win The Open Championship if he is such and expert on golf courses.
He may have a point but he should have brought it up privately with the club and tournament folks- less potential enmity and a more constructive approach. Going to the media to rag the course was bogus.
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