Why Phil Mickelson was once labelled ‘pathetic’ by the Internationals’ vice-captain after a Presidents Cup match

Tony Johnstone accused Phil Mickelson of a complete lack of sportsmanship after his dance to celebrate winning a point for Team USA during the second day’s play at the 2017 Presidents Cup.

The 2017 Presidents Cup proved to be a nightmare for the International Team. Team USA led by 14.5-3.5 going into the final day at Liberty National, meaning that they needed to win just one of the 12 singles matches to secure victory.

After a disappointing opening day where they won 1.5 points from the five on offer, the Internationals really needed a flawless Friday in New Jersey. However, they would go on to lose four of the five matches, while earning half a point from the other.

Phil Mickelson and Kevin Kisner were the only victorious American pairing to be taken to the 18th hole. But that only provided the perfect stage for Mickelson to make the winning putt and tie Tiger Woods’ record for the most victories in Presidents Cup history.

Phil Mickelson heavily criticised for his actions at the 2017 Presidents Cup

To celebrate, Mickelson and Kisner performed the Three Amigos ‘dance’. However, not everyone saw the funny side. Speaking to Sky Sports about the behaviour of the American players, International vice-captain Johnstone was extremely critical of Mickelson, as well as Daniel Berger who subsequently claimed that Team USA wanted to crush their opponents as much as possible ahead of the singles.

“What Daniel said was unfortunate and unnecessary, and I thought Mickelson’s dance routine was pathetic and unsportsmanlike,” he said. “I can’t believe he had actually practiced that in the locker room! If you want to look silly, that is fine, but don’t do it before your opponents have putted.

“There’s a time and a place for that kind of thing, and Phil got it badly wrong. That was a complete lack of sportsmanship and, to me, showed a lot of disrespect towards his opponents.”

One American player’s conduct was lauded by the Internationals’ vice-captain

There was one member of the American team that Johnstone was full of praise for after an ill-tempered week.

Kevin Chappell had been the final player to qualify automatically for the American side. He went on to win 1.5 points from his three matches. It was Chappell who tied with Marc Leishman in the opening match of the Sunday singles to ensure that the cup was retained for Team USA.

And Johnstone suggested that he was hugely impressed by how the rookie had conducted himself.

“I must give huge credit to Kevin Chappell. Kevin and his wife came and apologised for the behaviour of the fans – and some of the players – and I thought that was a really classy gesture. I had never met Kevin until last week, but he seems a really nice, down-to-earth guy and I’ve got a lot of respect for him for doing that,” he said.

It was certainly a tough week for the International team, with more than two-thirds of their overall points coming on Sunday. It seems important for the future of the Presidents Cup that they are much more competitive at Medinah in the coming days.