The Loop

Another day, another right-handed shot by Phil Mickelson at the Ryder Cup

October 01, 2016

CHASKA, Minn. -- After a dramatic rally in his foursomes match on Day 1 of the Ryder Cup, Phil Mickelson praised partner Rickie Fowler for keeping him loose. He's certainly keeping Phil on his toes on Day 2.

An errant shot by Fowler forced Mickelson to play a flop shot from a tee box on the par-5 third (they saved par) in Saturday morning's foursome match against Rory McIlroy and Thomas Pieters. Then on the fifth hole, a wild Fowler drive made Mickelson play a shot right-handed (they didn't save par):

Incredibly, it was the second consecutive day a bad drive by Fowler put Mickelson in such a position -- although to be fair, on Friday, Fowler only hit a tee shot on the sixth hole because Mickelson had already hit one out of bounds.

Despite a win on Day 1, the Mickelson-Fowler tandem in foursomes drew a lot of raised eyebrows. Mickelson has played poorly historically in this format and Fowler was arguably the most questionable of Davis Love III's captain's picks. There's a lot of golf left, but the duo finds themselves 3 down after six holes to Rory McIlroy and Thomas Pieters. Of course, there's also a lot of time left for Lefty to hit more righty shots.