After Getting Into Deep Water for His Harsh Criticism of Golf Legend Tom Watson, Phil Mickelson Was Once Rescued From Public Scrutiny by John Daly

The 2014 Ryder Cup was a lost cause for Team USA from the onset. Before the start of the biennial event, influential players such as Tiger Woods withdrew and caused a change in the team structure. It ultimately led to a dismal loss against Team Europe, which led to a further uprising in post-match press conferences. Among them was Phil Mickelson’s harsh criticism of captain, Tom Watson, which John Daly interjected to save Lefty from deep trouble.

John Daly defends Tom Watson

To clear the air surrounding the issue, Daly took it upon himself to defend his former colleagues. “I don’t like what everybody’s done with Tom,” he said during a chat at the 2014 Turkish Airlines Open.

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Tom Watson was handed the captaincy burden of Team USA ahead of the 2014 Ryder Cup. At 65, he became the oldest Ryder Cup captain in history, surpassing a record held by J.H. Taylor in 1933.

Whilst supporting Watson and regarding him as “a legend of the game” and “one of the nicest guys” he had ever met, Daly dived into the miscomprehension of Mickelson’s words in that fateful press conference.

Daly’s take on Phil Mickelson’s comments

“I think the thing about Phil, what he said, I think it was blown out of proportion,” Daly said. “It was a question, ‘what does the U.S. need to do differently,’ and Phil didn’t say anything bad against Tom. He just said, ‘I think we need to do it the way [2008 U.S. skipper Paul] Azinger did it.’”

Mickelson, and later Daly, were referring to the “pod concept” employed by former skipper, Paul Azinger. In simple terms, it was an idea of forming close bonds in small groups within the twelve-member team, increasing brotherhood and accounting for each other’s mistakes on the course.

This ideology helped the US team capture an underdog victory at the 2008 Ryder Cup played in the Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky. They beat the Nick Faldo-led side 16 1⁄2 – 11 1⁄2 to end their streak of three successive Ryder Cup defeats.

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