Great Moments in Phil Mickelson Whining to Get His Way

Phil Mickelson's wedge stunt this week wasn't the first time that Phil has used passive aggressive - and sometimes very blatant - actions to make a point. 

In 2005, Mickelson skipped the Tour Championship for the fourth time in five years, citing that he wanted to take his kids trick-or-treating that week.  He said earlier in the season that it was "anticlimactic."

The next season, he repeated the same stunt, citing family reasons.  Mickelson has repeatedly gushed about the "field trip" value of taking his children to Asia in seasons hence when he plays for seven figure appearance fees there.

Ultimately, those back-to-back no shows at the Tour Championship led to the formation of the FedExCup.

In April 2007, Phil Mickelson missed the pro-am at the Byron Nelson Championship, missing the pro-am because he opted to play in a charity outing in Arkansas.  The Tour still allowed Mickelson to play in the event despite a rule that expressly states that players who miss the pro-am cannot play in that tournament.  It was a signal of Mickelson's disdain for the PGA Tour's pro-ams. 

Later in 2007, once Mickelson beat Woods to win the Deutsche Bank Championship in the second leg of the Playoffs, Mickelson threatened to skip the BMW Championship over the lack of a "balanced" schedule.  That meant that Phil wanted a week off somewhere in the Playoffs because he considered it too much to play for four straight weeks and seven out of eight in the summer and fall.  He even went so far as to take the gripe public on NBC's air when interviewed after winning in Boston. 

Then, as promised, he skipped the BMW Championship.  He said in a statement that it was not about sending a message to anyone.

Now, there's a two week gap between the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship.

Having not yet lost in any of his nonviolent protests against the things he dislikes about the PGA Tour, Phil has no reason to discontinue his methods of acting out in an effort to get his way.  This time, he has placed the PGA Tour in a very difficult position. 

They could work out a settlement with Ping that would allow for the banning of the Ping Eye 2s, but that would ultimately open the door to a lawsuit because their local rule would violate the governing body of golf.  The PGA Tour has already experienced what kind of legal problems (and costs) can result from instituting its own equipment rules and would be unlikely to do the same.  It wouldn't matter anyhow, because Mickelson would then want to bring back the USGA rules since the Ping Eye 2s would be allowed.

You would swear Mickelson is an only child with the way he acts.  And that's coming from an observer who is an only child.