‘He Got Whanned’: Phil Mickelson’s Strong Comments Against USGA Over Talor Gooch Controversy Takes Another Turn

The North Course at Los Angels Country Club is all ready to welcome the 123rd U.S. Open. However, the tournament’s change in the eligibility rule in February brought a slight twist to the story. In a nutshell, a player would be exempted to play in the tournament only if he has qualified and was eligible for the 2022 Tour Championship. Initially, the exemption criteria mentioned only the ‘qualified’ word. This addition, however, impacted only one player who had earlier qualified, Talor Gooch.

Since his shift to the new league, the LIV Star has been suspended from taking part in the Tour Championship. Because of this, the American golfer no longer has the automatic qualification for the U.S. Open. Evidently, the new rule has not only evoked strong reactions from the fans but also from the veteran, Phil Mickelson. Despite firing heated comments earlier this week regarding the matter, he doesn’t seem to be done with the same.

Phil Mickelson cannot hold himself back from pointing fingers

Lefty’s recent support for the 31-year-old golfer has ignited an uproar on social media. Fans have started asking questions and the three-time masters champion just always has something to add. Phil is known for his bold claims and outright opinions. As one golf enthusiast called “Talor Gooch can qualify if he wants” statement moronic, and went on to declare the change in the exemption criteria to remove Gooch a deliberate move, Mickelson couldn’t help but respond.

Read More: Hours After Fellow LIV Golfer Faces a Major Setback, Phil Mickelson Raises a Strong ‘Collude With the Tour’ Accusation Against USGA

He tweeted, ‘He can go qualify and the site he plays gets 10 spots. If he finishes 7th and makes it the usga then says that qualifying spot now only gets 6 spots. So sorry. That’s essentially what happened. He got “Whanned”‘

Other fans also couldn’t help but continue asking questions to the golf star. One of the accounts asked him that why has the change of criteria not been applied by others like R&A, Masters, and PGA if they are all allied to ‘collude’. The 39-time PGA Tour winner rebutted, ‘They did make the same verbiage change except did not make it retroactive. They let gooch play this year since he’d already qualified under the set criteria. USGA and Whan are the only ones to take the spot away. Total “Whan move.”‘

Not the first time Mickelson spoke against USGA CEO

A few days ago, the 52-year-old took to the social media platform to draw remarks at USGA Chief Executive Officer. He commented under the country club adjacent podcast account and called out the governing body’s action. He believed it to be a direct attack on the World No. 60 and his career.

Following his Twitter narrative, it can be discerned that Mickelson is adamant about accusing Mike Whan of keeping Talor out of the major tournament. Even though Phil is exempted to play at the North Course, thanks to his 2021 PGA Championship victory, he still advocates for his fellow LIV golfers.

Watch this story: ‘It’s for you too’: Despite being scrutinized by golf fans, Phil Mickelson takes a bold stand to justify a viral LIV video.