WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, Round 4: Leaderboard, tee times, TV times

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. – When Phil Mickelson arrived at the 13th hole, it was hard to believe his week could get any worse. He was 10 over par after four consecutive bogeys that ended any chance of a Saturday charge at Shinnecock Hills. Then Mickelson committed a shocking act that produced another unforgettable moment in a U.S. Open career defined by disappointment. After taking four shots to reach the green, his 19-foot putt looked like it was about to roll off the front of the putting surface. Mickelson jogged after his ball and hit it while it was still in motion. Mickelson incurred a two-shot penalty under Rule 14-5, which states that a player must not make a stroke at a ball that is moving. He then two-putted for a sextuple-bogey 10. He seemed surprised by the backlash to his actions, insisting that he was simply using the rules to his advantage. “I don’t mean to disrespect anybody. I know it’s a two-shot penalty,� Mickelson said. “At that time, I just didn’t feel like going back and forth and hitting the same shot over. I took the two-shot penalty and moved on. It’s my understanding of the rules. I’ve had multiple times where I’ve wanted to do that. I just finally did.� Mickelson, who celebrated his 48th birthday on Saturday, signed for an 81 that left him at 17-over 227 (77-69-81). He had played Friday’s final 15 holes in 3 under just to make the cut and keep his slim chances of winning his first U.S. Open alive. Mickelson, 48, needs to win his national championship to complete the career Grand Slam. He has a record six runners-up in the event. The 81 matched Mickelson’s highest round at the U.S. Open. He shot a second-round 81 to miss the cut in his pro debut in 1992 at Pebble Beach. John Daly committed a similar infraction in the 1999 U.S. Open. He whacked a ball out of frustration as it was rolling off of one of Pinehurst’s crowned greens. Mickelson said that wasn’t his motive, though. “I don’t feel like it was frustration that crept over,� Mickelson said. “I had fun. (Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston) and I had a great time today. People here have been tremendous. They have made my birthday very special and I’m very appreciative of that. … I just took two shots and moved on because I didn’t want to keep hitting it back and forth. That’s all there is to it.� Johnston, who shot 82 Saturday while playing alongside Mickelson, called Mickelson’s move “one of the mad moments.� “We were both obviously really struggling,� Johnston said. “It was funny because I didn’t think he hit that bad of a chip shot from behind the green in the first place. And as it released and went through, I thought, ‘Wow, that is seriously quick.’ “It wasn’t a (way) of saying, ‘I’ve had enough’ or this and that. It just happened. I said, ‘That’s one of the strangest things I’ve ever seen,’ and then just started laughing, to be honest.� Some insisted that Mickelson’s actions were against the spirit of the law and could be considered a “major breach� of the Rules of Golf, which result in disqualification.  Rule 1-2, titled “Exerting Influence on Movement of Ball or Altering Physical Conditions,� states, “A player must not (i) take an action with the intent to influence the movement of a ball in play or (ii) alter physical conditions with the intent of affecting the playing of a hole.� John Bodenhamer, the USGA’s senior managing director of championships and governance, said the tournament’s rules committee quickly convened and unanimously determined that Mickelson’s actions did not fit under that category. “He didn’t deflect it or stop it. He played a moving ball,� Bodenhamer said. “He made a stroke at a moving ball, which is explicitly covered under 14-5. So it’s not necessary to move on to (Rule) 1-2. It’s covered under 14-5.�

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Phil Mickelson created history at the 2021 PGA Championship, becoming the oldest major winner ever amid an unforgettable scene on the 72nd hole. The 50-year-old’s equipment set up at Kiawah Island included a new Callaway Epic Speed Triple Diamond driver with just 5.5 degrees of loft, but it was far from smooth sailing for Mickelson’s equipment throughout the week. He had not one, but two, clubs crack at Kiawah Island, including one that became unplayable as he was preparing for his final-round tee time. “You can’t swing it as hard as I hit it and not expect them to crack,” Mickelson joked in Sunday’s post-victory press conference. “It happens. In fact, if it doesn’t happen, you start to question the manufacturer, hey, aren’t we making this as hot as we can?” The first club to go was Mickelson’s 11.5-degree TaylorMade Original One “Mini Driver,” which he uses as a 2-wood. It caved in during the third round. “Little things happen, but (Saturday), I hit a couple of squirrelly shots on 12 and 13 and the face on my 2-wood flattened,” Mickelson said. “Fortunately, I had a backup head and swapped it out and hit it great today.” Mickelson’s 2-iron was the next club to go, but it was not as easy of a fix. And it happened minutes before his final-round tee time. He had his Callaway X Forged UT 2-iron in the bag all week until the clubface cracked during Sunday’s warm-up session, necessitating a change to Mickelson’s equipment setup. Tim Mickelson, Phil’s brother and caddie, noticed the crack after Phil put the club back in the bag. In lieu of the 2-iron, Phil decided to swap in a Callaway Mavrik Sub Zero 4-wood with 16.5 degrees of lost. Mickelson hadn’t practiced with the 4-wood since Tuesday, but he used it off the tee several times Sunday, including his tee shots on Nos. 3 and 4 “Fortunately I had a 4-wood that’s a very comparable club to that 1-iron distance-wise and I was able to use that club effectively,” Mickelson said. “I hit that club very well. It’s just one of those things that happens and you just have to be prepared for it, which is why I bring backup clubs out here.” Needless to say, the preparation paid off as Mickelson was the man holding the 27-pound Wanamaker Trophy at day’s end.

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Cameron Tringale & Roberto Castro (+4000) … If I’m adhering to the loosest interpretation of the disclaimer at the bottom, I’d rule out a duo who finished T5 in the last edition of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. However, that was two years ago and a lot has changed for the former Georgia Tech teammates. Each was exempt as a Korn Ferry Tour Finals graduate in 2018-19, but only Tringale has retained fully exempt status. At this point in 2019, he was 562nd in the Official World Golf Ranking; today, he’s 85th on the strength of three top 10s and another four top 20s this season. Castro, who has slipped from 294th to 679th in the OWGR during the same time frame, has a pathway in 2020-21 only because eligibility was adjusted due to the pandemic. He’s made only four starts via conditional status but both of his cuts made occurred in his last two starts, the latter resulting in a T18 at Corales in late March. Thomas Pieters & Tom Lewis (+4000) … Both members of this all-European team arrive with momentum. Pieters of Belgium has traveled around the world already a couple of times this year, but he hasn’t slowed. The 29-year-old is 6-for-6 with top 15s in each of his last four trips – from Saudi Arabia to Puerto Rico to Qatar to the Dominican Republic. Oddly, this week’s stop in NOLA marks his first appearance in a non-major on the U.S. mainland in 23 months (2019 AT&T Byron Nelson). Lewis is a year older and, unlike his partner, a PGA TOUR member. He’s been a two-time chip-and-a-chair success story. In what’s remained his only appearance on the Korn Ferry Tour, he prevailed at the KFT Championship in 2019 to secure his 2019-20 PGA TOUR card. In his first season with status, he was destined to miss the FedExCup Playoffs in 2020 until sharing runner-up honors at the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational with three weeks to go. The Brit has sputtered again this season, but he’s cashed in four straight starts with a T25 at Harbour Town on Sunday. Roger Sloan & Aaron Baddeley (+8000) … You’re likely not going to see this pair competing at the Presidents Cup, but these two complement each other nicely for the objective at TPC Louisiana. Sloan of Canada is 36th on the PGA TOUR in greens in regulation. That frequency has helped guide him to five top 25s, including three in a row before the streak ended at TPC San Antonio (MC). He’s a first-timer in the team competition. Badds missed the cut in his only prior appearance (in 2018), but the Aussie struts in having cashed in four consecutive events across two tours. The most recent is a T5 on Sunday at the Korn Ferry Tour’s MGM Resorts Championship at Paiute. While he’s no longer among the elite putters, it’s still his strongest skill. Odds were sourced on Tuesday, April 20 at 5 a.m. ET. For live odds visit betmgm. NOTE: Sleeper is a relative term, so Rob uses unofficial criteria to determine who qualifies. Each of the following usually is determined to be ineligible for this weekly staple: Winners of the tournament on the current host course; winners in the same season; recent major champions; top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking; recent participants of team competitions.

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