My son jolted me awake early this morning because he’d had a nightmare. While walking him around, I turned on the first hour of TNT’s coverage (which would start even earlier if anyone in TV cared about the West Coast, but more on that in a later blog). As the images from Royal Birkdale came into view, it became apparent that the little guy could have been dreaming about Phil Mickelson trying to play links golf.

That’s enough to scare the sleep out of anyone.

For there Mickelson was, bundled up against the whipping wet winds, kicking away another major opportunity. Mickelson already stood at plus seven shortly after TNT went on the air. He’d finish 9-over, which is actually almost as predictable as Tony Romo doing something to attract attention to himself.

You almost knew that Phil would find a way to play even worse with no Tiger Woods in the field. All these years, Tiger has actually been taking pressure off Phil. When Mickelson is the clear No. 1 star, the headliner, he cannot cope.

Permalink 10 comments