Even a slumping Mickelson is the right Presidents Cup pick
On Tuesday afternoon, Jay Haas, the man in charge of this 2015 United States Presidents Cup team, had two options -- setting up a situation similar to the thousand or so decisions he’s faced on the golf course during his career.
Pull out a three-wood, take a whack at a high-risk shot in hopes of pulling off something magical -- or hit an iron to the fat part of the fairway and keep the risk low. In golf, risk-rewards happen every single day.
Haas picked the latter in filling out the Presidents Cup roster, and his choice had the golf world collectively scratching its head. It shouldn’t, but it did.
The decision to add Phil Mickelson to his 21st straight international match play team is perplexing for a lot of people when you simply look at the numbers. Phil is 30th in points, 20 spots out of automatically qualifying for the squad. He hasn’t won on the PGA Tour in more two years, hasn’t finished in the top 10 in an event since June 14 and has progressively gotten worse in the FedEx Cup playoffs this year, finishing T-50 at the Barclays and T-65 at the Deutsche Bank Championship while failing to break 70 in his last five rounds.
If the agenda that we keep hearing is to “grow the game,” picking a 45-year-old over the likes of Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Billy Horschel, Harris English and Kevin Kisner doesn’t exactly line up. But while I’m all for the youth movement taking over all aspects of the PGA Tour, isn’t Phil the right choice here?
Let’s first go over something important that is easy to gloss past when talking about the team events, the Presidents Cup and the Ryder Cup: Though they have extremely similar formats, they are not the same. Not even close. The United States absolutely dominates the Presidents Cup, going 8-1-1 since it started in 1994, with Mickelson being a part of each of those teams. His 20-16-11 record is much better than the one he boasts at the Ryder Cup and includes a polished 9-3-2 mark in the last three Presidents Cups.
Plus, Phil is the type of guy you can throw in with anybody. Since ’09, he has won or halved matches while paired with the likes of Anthony Kim, Justin Leonard, Sean O’Hair, Jim Furyk and Keegan Bradley (talk about contrasting personalities!) and will most likely be paired with a few names next month he has never played with in this event (Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker seem like possible partners).
And frankly, isn’t Phil the best possible leader for a team like this? With so many muted personalities on the roster (Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson, Jimmy Walker, Matt Kuchar, Bill Haas, Chris Kirk, Fowler and Furyk), a leader who will speak up, lighten the mood and simply make his teammates more comfortable seems like a proper fit despite his not exactly bringing along the game we’ve seen him have in past Cups.
Finally, to those bringing up what happened after the Ryder Cup a year ago, just listen to what Mickelson said about his role this year for Haas, a man who Phil obviously respects.
“Anything that I can do inside the team room, off the golf course, to help bring out the best play in the other guys, I'm in,” he told reporters. “I'll do whatever I can, whatever Jay and the guys feel is best. If there's anything that I can do, I want to do it. I've had so much fun being part of this team, being part of the past Presidents Cups, and representing the United States is such a great honor that we want to do all we can to be successful in Korea.”
Sure, those are just words, but it seems like a role Mickelson understands. Phil is a competitor, sure, and if Haas sits him for an entire day when he’s playing some of the best golf of anyone on the American team I’m sure he’ll get upset. But he also understands that at this point in his career what he does for the other guys during these weeks can be as important as dropping a pivotal 5-footer on Saturday.
Phil is an entertainer first and foremost, and for an event that needs all the exposure it can get, having a recognizable face on the team who will yuck it up with his teammates, slap a backside or two when one of them makes a putt and possibly do this if he has the afternoon off makes Haas’ decision look like a lay-up.
It’s a bummer that Koepka, Thomas, Horschel and others will have to wait another year to either qualify or get picked for such a special event, but at the Presidents Cup, Mickelson is the guy you want if you’re going to take a flier on a veteran.
Shane Bacon is a regular contributor to FOXSports.com's golf coverage. Follow him on Twitter at @shanebacon.
