Phil Mickelson admits he deliberately hit moving ball to gain an advantage at US Open

PHIL MICKELSON staged a bizarre birthday protest over the almost sadistic US Open set-up.

And fellow pros slammed the organisers for letting conditions spiral out of control – again!

The angry reaction as scores rocketed in the 80 degree heat was reminiscent of the last US Open at Shinnecock Hills in 2004, when officials admitted they ‘lost;’ the greens by letting them dry out too much.

Mickelson, who was celebrating his 48th birthday, bit his tongue after firing his worst ever US Open round, an 11 over par 81.

But he made his feelings clear as he picked up a two shot penalty for hitting his ball while it was still moving, which led to a TEN on the par four 13th.

That looked like a brainstorm at first – but it was obviously Mickelson’s way of highlighting the problem of trying to keep the ball on the greens.

Double Major winner Zach Johnson was not so subtle. He stormed: “It was on the edge – and now they’ve lost it. They’ve lost the golf course. When you’ve a championship which comes down to sheer luck, that’s not right.”

Johnson was furious despite shooting a respectable 72 to drop to eight over par – fellow early starters Tony Finau and Daniel Berger had no complaints after shooting matching 66s to charge into contention at three over par.

But another of the handful of players to break par, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, also felt it was a lottery after his 68 lifted him to six over, with the conditions getting tougher by the hour.

Dustin Johnson was in no mood to argue after his four shot lead was wiped out on the front nine, as he dropped six shots in the first eight holes.

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Aphibarnrat said: “When the wind picks up, is a completely different golf course. It is really difficult to put the ball in the fairways, can’t hold the greens. When you hit the short iron, you have no spin on this green at all. And the pins were really tricky.”

Mickelson was all smiles early on as the US Open crowds sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to him on every tee and green.

But his frustration at seeing his career Grand Slam hopes disappear down the pan with a succession of bogeys at Shinnecock Hills seemed to get the better of him on the 13th hole.

Mickelson was already four over par for his round – and ten over in all – when he sent another bogey putt charging past the hole.

It looked like his ball would run off the green, but the five time Major champion raced after it and knocked it back towards the hole while it was still moving.

That brings an automatic two shot penalty, and Mickelson eventually carded a quintuple bogey nine on that hole.

But the damage to his squeaky clean reputation will be even harder to take. The last high profile player to do something similar was John Daly – golf’s ‘Wild Thing’ hit a moving ball at the 1999 US open on his way to an ELEVEN.

Daly said that was his protest at the “unfair” pin positions, but Mickelson has a well-earned reputation for respecting the game’s traditions. He gave a sheepish smile to his playing partner – England’s Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston before completing his round.

Mickelson said he had deliberately chosen to take the two shot penalty.

He said: “Look, I didn’t mean any disrespect. I knew the penalty and at that time I just didn’t feel like going back and forth. So I took the two shot penalty and moved on.

“I have thought about doing that is similar situations multiple times before, and this time I just went ahead and did it. My ball was definitely going to run off the green, and I knew I wouldn’t have done any better than a two putt from down there.

“It wasn’t intended to be disrespectful – it was taking advantage of the rules the best I can. I apologies to anyone who felt there was any disrespect involved, but it wasn’t meant that way.

“I have had an awesome day here, with people singing and shouting happy birthday to me. It has been a fun birthday – in that respect.”

Beef, who went one worse than Mickelson with a 12 over par 82, said he was stunned by his playing partner’s actions.

He commented: “It was just one of those mad moments, really. We were both obviously really struggling. It was funny because I didn’t think he hit that bad of a shot from behind the green in the first place.

“It’s just one of the moments where you’re not thinking about it. It just happens, and he just did it: I said that’s one of the strangest things I’ve ever seen and then I started laughing, to be honest.

“I said ‘I’m sorry but I’ve got to laugh at this’. I think we were both happy to get off the golf course. It was a relief.

“I’ve got no issue with what he did, but I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s something you might see at your home course with your mates or something.

“I think it’s just a moment of madness. But it’s nothing disrespectful to me or to the US Open or anything.”