US Ryder Cup Debacle Made Even Worse by Phil Mickelson's Criticism of Tom Watson

The United States Ryder Cup team didn't fare well on the course at Gleneagles the week, getting blown out 16.5-11.5 by a talented European squad, but things were even worse in the press.

As Rory McIlroy and Co. were dousing each other with champagne and waving their respective flags in the air, Phil Mickelson was making waves with his thinly veiled shots at captain Tom Watson. 

"We had great formula in '08," he said on NBC immediately after the loss, referring to captain Paul Azinger's work with the victorious 2008 team. "I don't know why we strayed from it."

In the press conference later, Mickelson, who went 2-1-0 this Ryder Cup but was benched for all of Saturday, elaborated on his thoughts, per ASAP Sports:

"

There were two things that allow us to play our best I think that Paul Azinger did, and one was he got everybody invested in the process.

He got everybody invested in who they were going to play with, who the picks were going to be, who was going to be in their pod, who—when they would play, and they had a great leader for each pod. ... And the other thing that Paul did really well was he had a great game plan for us, you know, how we were going to go about doing this. 

"

When asked whether the players were involved in the process this year, Mickelson was frank, saying, "No, nobody here was in any decision."

Keep in mind, Mickelson said all of this in the group press conference, surrounded by all of his teammates and Watson. Awkward.

It was no secret that Lefty was disappointed after Watson benched him for both pairs matches Saturday, despite his record of success with partner Keegan Bradley, but nobody could have predicted that Mickelson would have taken his frustration out in such a public manner. 

Matt Dunham/Associated Press

Of course, when a reporter told Mickelson that it felt like he was attacking Watson, the five-time major champion denied it. "I'm sorry you're taking it that way," he said. "I'm just talking about what Paul Azinger did to help us play our best. It's certainly—I don't understand why you would take it that way."

While there were mixed reactions to Mickelson's brutal honesty, more analysts than not seemed to think the veteran majorly misstepped with his remarks, and that he should be setting an example for the rookies on the team, not creating unnecessary drama. Nobody was quite as critical as Brandel Chamblee on the Golf Channel. 

"When I first started playing golf, I heard it was a gentleman's game," he said on air. "That was as close to a one-man (mutiny) as I've ever seen."

Jason Sobel of Golf Channel suggested an interesting format for the next Ryder Cup:

Chamblee didn't stop there, though. He went on to say Mickelson is one of the main reasons the United States has done so poorly in recent competitions.

"If you're looking for a reason why the United States continues to lose, you just saw it," he said. 

Mickelson is 14-18-6 in his Ryder Cup career, and while he always plays in the event and obviously cares a lot about it, he has received criticism for his perceived lack of commitment to the team throughout the years.

Chamblee spoke about Mickelson's attitude at the 2004 Ryder Cup, when he changed clubs right before the event, practiced at a different course a day before the competition began and refused to come together with Tiger Woods for the sake of the team.

"We've run the numbers. From start to finish, forever, players who are the best go to the Ryder Cup and show off. Not goof off," Chamblee said.

"The best players in [Phil's] era have so corrupted the experience of the Ryder Cup for their fellow competitors by not having records anywhere near where they should, given their rank in the game."

Of course, Mickelson was playing pretty well this week, and it's certainly worth noting that he was hardly the only person who was criticizing Watson. In fact, you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who thought Watson's captaincy was successful.

He was aloof and distant throughout—a stark contrast to European captain Paul McGinley's buddy-buddy relationship with his players—and Mickelson's frustration that the players weren't more involved in decisions was not unfounded. Kyle Porter of CBS Sports provided an assessment of Mickelson's press-conference demeanor:

While Watson said he was proud of his players and took the blame for some of the decisions he made, he also didn't sugarcoat things. When asked on NBC what his final words to his team would be after the loss, Watson was blunt. "I'm going to say, 'You played your best, but it wasn't good enough,'" he said. "You're going to have to figure out what it takes to play a little bit better."

In the group press conference, he openly questioned his team's fitness, while defending his process for picks.

"I had a different philosophy as far as being a captain of this team. You know, it takes 12 players to win. It's not pods. It's 12 players," he said in the press conference after being asked to react to Mickelson's comments on Azinger. "My management philosophy is different than his."

Alastair Grant/Associated Press

In the face of Mickelson's disrespect, Watson was classy and refused to fire back, which was one of the few things he did all week that will garner him any public goodwill.

Mickelson, meanwhile, was an embarrassment to Team USA. In the wake of a tough defeat, he should have left the commentary to the journalists and pundits and showed a bit more respect to one of the legends of the game and the rest of his team. There's a time and a place for players to give their unfiltered opinion on the Ryder Cup and the captaincy. This was certainly not it.

Of course, there was one thing Mickelson and Watson could both agree on: The Europeans kicked their butts, which is nothing new. Mickelson's anger was obviously fueled by the fact that he's been on 10 Ryder Cup teams in his career and has only won twice.

Unfortunately, as the Americans showed both on and off the course this week, they have a long way to go until they catch up with the Europeans.