Should Phil Mickelson face some kind of sanction from the PGA Tour for withdrawing after Thursday’s first round of the Memorial because of ‘mental fatigue’?
Apparently he won’t, as Tour rules don’t require any reason for withdrawing after a round.
According to Tour rules, you can’t use fatigue as an excuse for a WD before the opening round or during any round, but you can use it after a round. Actually, no explanation is necessary after a round, so Mickelson was under no obligation to explain his WD.
It’s hard to sympathize with a player who cites fatigue, then blames a recent European vacation with his wife as part of the reason for said fatigue. And fans who bought tickets to the Memorial expecting to watch Mickelson on Thursday and Friday have a right to be disappointed at best, angry at worst.
When Tiger Woods withdrew this year at Doral, even though he cited an injury, there were those who accused him of ‘quitting.’ Well, on Thursday, Mickelson admitted that he was quitting.
On the other hand, it’s worth noting that a Mickelson WD is extremely rare – this is only his third withdrawal in 456 career starts on the PGA Tour. And as we noted earlier, he didn’t break any rule.
Discussion: Should the Tour change its rules on WDs to prevent something like this from happening again?