Despite his defection, it’s still all about Phil.
The U.S. Open tees off on Thursday morning at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, and like it or not, Phil is the story.
After recently leaving the PGA Tour in favor of Saudi-backed LIV Golf, Phil is playing his first event back around his former colleagues.
He knows he screwed up by leaving, and he did.
He made that very clear by his anxious demeanor during his Monday press conference.
Phil spoke like a kid that got his hand stuck in the cookie jar.
He’s doing the wrong thing, and he knows it.
Not just leaving the PGA Tour, but leaving for a lump sum of money provided by a group of people cloaked in questionable ethics and alleged human rights violations.
All of that being said, Phil winning this week would still be the biggest possible story of the weekend.
Sure, Rory McIlroy or Justin Thomas winning would be incredible.
But Phil catching his white whale, his golden goose, the U.S. Open, in the midst of the biggest controversy of his career?
That’s the story I’ll be rooting for most when he tees it up at 12:47 this afternoon.