Alan Shipnuck Talks US Open, Tiger, Disgraced Mickelson, More

Golf writer Alan Shipnuck joined the show from the media tent at Shinnecock Hills, with Andrew Siciliano in for Rich, and the story of this US Open, he said, is whether the USGA has the stones to let the course bare its fangs.

After losing control of Shinnecock the last two times they came, the USGA has played it cautious: soft, receptive greens, friendly pin positions, and a flood of low scores. Wyndham Clark sat seven under. What will define the tournament, Shipnuck said, is whether the setup turns firm, fast, and terrifying. As for who runs Clark down, he liked Matt Fitzpatrick, lurking in second with swagger and the best short game on the leaderboard, even saying he'd almost take Fitzpatrick over Clark right now. He also flagged Xander Schauffele as overdue, with Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler yet to tee off.

The carnage made for the best lines. Dustin Johnson "got Shinnecocked," making a snowman and doing the classic tour move of glaring at his wedge as if a rock were behind the ball. Joaquin Niemann, LIV's winningest player who campaigned his way into the field via a new exemption, promptly made an 11, hurled his club, and took a penalty en route to a 78. When Siciliano gamely noted Niemann played 17 of 18 holes fine, Shipnuck deadpanned that the Titanic had a great ride except for the one iceberg. On Rory, he said the Northern Irishman has reached a different plane where even mediocre rounds are 69s, and if he tames the driver he's been fighting all year, he's dangerous. Bryson DeChambeau, meanwhile, looked headed for another missed cut, his iron play "trash" for an elite player despite his 3D-printed clubs. The fix, Shipnuck joked, isn't engineering, it's just becoming a better iron player.

The conversation turned serious on Phil Mickelson, the subject of Shipnuck's book. He called it hard to imagine an athlete burning more goodwill. After becoming a folk hero by winning the 2021 PGA Championship at 50, Mickelson could have had Ryder Cup captaincies, a seat next to Jim Nantz, and an honorary starter's role at the Masters into his old age. Instead, Shipnuck described an incredible, self-inflicted fall from grace, pointing to the reporting around an incident in San Diego where Mickelson allegedly groped an employee at a private club and was escorted off the grounds, technically resigning before he could be pushed out. Shipnuck framed it as part of a longer slide into infamy, and drew the parallel to Tiger Woods, the childhood-linked foil now also out of rehab, two icons who brought disgrace on themselves through their behavior and vices.

Asked the what's-more-likely question of who plays a tournament again first, Shipnuck leaned Phil on the basis of an unbroken body, but reversed himself on access. Mickelson's LIV allegiance means a year-long suspension and a mega fine to play a PGA or senior event, and if LIV folds, he's a man without a country. Tiger is welcome anywhere, could ride a cart on the senior tour, and has the Charlie Woods factor pulling at him the way Bronny did at LeBron. Shipnuck noted Tiger looked slimmer and healthier in post-rehab photos and harbors a romantic pull toward the US Senior Open to go with his US Junior, US Amateur, and US Open titles. The last chapter for both, he said, is unwritten.