The Tiger Woods-less Ryder Cup is upon us, and somebody’s got to do something to drum up interest. Phil Mickelson’s usually good at that–and he delivered at an early press conference. Dressed in his red, white and blue, Mickelson was asked why the Americans–who’ve fared poorly against Europe in recent years–can’t get along a little better. (The Europeans tend to put on a good display of Ryder Cup camaraderie that makes the Americans look a little stiff and standoffish by comparison.)
This year though, Mickelson had some ammunition. Two of the most prominent European players–world No. 1 Rory McIlroy and his countryman, Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell–are on opposite ends of a bitter lawsuit with McIlroy suing his former agency, in which McDowell is an active partner. Mickelson, with an innocent grin, replied, “Not only are we able to play together, but we also don’t litigate against each other. So that’s a real plus.” He followed it up–after the laughter–with “I couldn’t resist.”
