As Lefty says sorry McIlroy brands fallout "a massive overreaction"

Phil Mickelson poses for photographs with fans after his final round at the US Open. Picture: Brian Keogh

Rory McIlroy sympathised with Phil Mickelson for his US Open meltdown before branding recent set ups “a bit of a lottery" and the fallout "a massive overreaction".

The left-hander issued a belated apology for his controversial US Open actions yesterday, texting journalists: "I know this should've come sooner, but it's taken me a few days to calm down.

"My anger and frustration got the best of me last weekend. I'm embarrassed and disappointed by my actions. 

"It was clearly not my finest moment and I'm sorry."

Struggling to handle third round conditions at Shinnecock Hills that the USGA later lamented, the five-time major winner (48) stopped his 15-foot bogey putt running off the 13th green, swatting it back towards the hole when it was still in motion.

He escaped disqualification by the USGA, racking up a ten after being slapped with a two-shot penalty for hitting a moving ball, eventually signing for an 81 that wrecked his chances of completing the career grand slam this year.

While many of Mickelson's peers were critical of his actions, McIlroy was sympathetic, describing the fallout as "a massive overreaction" while at the same time admitting he would not have gone as far to protest at the course set up.

“I was practising when it happened,” McIlroy said at the $7 million Travelers Championship in Connecticut, where he is hoping to bounce back from last week’s missed cut at Shinnecock Hills and build momentum for the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open and The Open. 

"When I came back in, I saw what happened. Honestly, I laughed. I felt there was a massive overreaction to it. 

"Knowing Phil, he knew what he was doing. Look, a player that's been in that head space at that tournament, I can see it happening to people. 

"Look, it's a tournament that Phil has come so close to winning over the past few years. 

"He's probably seen what's happened over the past few years at that tournament, and it's frustrated him because it's the only one that he hasn't won.

"Plus it's probably becoming the hardest one to win for anyone because it is a bit of a lottery at times.

"I don't know if I'd go to the lengths that he went to to make a statement like that, but I thought there was a massive overreaction to it."

Graeme McDowell was shocked by Mickelson's antics and only sorry the Californian (48) tried to argue that he used the rules in his favour instead of holding up his hands and saying he'd had a mental blowout.

“I thought Phil could’ve handled it differently," McDowell said at TPC River Highlands, where Pádraig Harrington and Seamus Power complete the Irish challenge. 

"I thought if he had just held his hands up and said, ‘Hey, I messed up,’ it was just a crazy moment of insanity. I think it would’ve went away. 

"Watching it, it was just a moment of insanity. I don’t think he needed to justify it. Just say, ‘Listen, I can’t believe I just did that.’ 

"It’s a pretty heavy penalty, and he doesn’t need to be crucified on top of that."

Like McIlroy, Jordan Spieth also found Mickelson's antics amusing.

"I laughed, I thought it was really funny," Spieth said at the Travelers Championship on Tuesday. "Phil knows the rules. There was a chance it was going to go back behind the bunker and he's got to chip back, or he was going to play off the green anyways, so he was potentially saving himself a shot. So if that was the intent, then what's the harm in that? He's playing the best score he can."

Australia's Jason Day was not as amused.

“It’s obviously disappointing to see what Phil did,” he said. “I think a lot of people have mixed reviews about what he did.”

Masters champion Patrick Reed also felt Mickelson made a mistake.

"Knowing Phil and knowing the USGA, knowing all the guys and everything, I mean, it's just kind of one of those things that sometimes you make a mistake," Reed said on Wednesday. "It's just kind of one of those things that I'm glad I wasn't in that situation where I didn't have to do something like that or didn't have to make the call of what happened afterwards.

"I felt like it was handled the best way that the USGA could handle the situation, and honestly, we just need Phil not to hit his putts over next time."

On the Europen Tour, US Open runner-up Tommy Fleetwood is the star attraction in the BMW International Open where Paul McBride is the only Irish player in action at Golf Club Gut Laerchenhof.

Ruaidhri McGee, Gary Hurley, Gavin Moynihan, Jonathan Caldwell, Dermot McElroy, Michael Hoey and  Cormac Sharvin are in action in the Challenge Tour's SSE Scottish Hydro Challenge with Leona Maguire and Stephanie Meadow set to tee it up tomorrow in the Symetra Tour's  Island Resort Championship in Michigan.

Meanwhile, world golf is in mourning for five-time Open champion Peter Thomson (88), who had been suffering from Parkinson's disease for more than four years, and former US Open, US PGA and Irish Open winner Hubert Green (71), who died yesterday from throat cancer.

Paying tribute the Australian, who died current Open champion Spieth said: "I remember seeing one picture afterwards where he was hugging [the Claret Jug] so close to his face with a smile of just like pure joy. 

"You don't see that, even in major championships, of guys with trophies. But you could see how much that meant to him. You could see how much that tournament meant to him.

"Certainly one of the, if not the most, masterful links players to play the game. Very obviously saddened by his passing. But what a legacy he left."