Phil Mickelson suffers unfortunate penalty, won’t be around for the weekend

The Old White TPC, site of the Greenbrier Classic, hasn't been kind to Phil Mickelson over the last couple of years.

After missing the cut last year in his first start at the event, Mickelson won't be around on the weekend for the second straight year after posting a 1-over 71 on Friday.

"I don't get it," Mickelson said after his round. "I certainly struggled a little bit on the greens both years, but nothing that should have led to these scores."

For whatever reason, Mickelson couldn't get anything going for the second consecutive day. On Thursday, he needed 29 putts to get around the Old White TPC course and struggled to keep it in play off the tee. Friday wasn't any different; he hit only six fairways and needed 30 putts to post his second straight over-par round.

It was hardly the tune-up he was looking for with the Open Championship on the horizon. Dating back to the Memorial, Mickelson's last seven rounds have been over par, which is surprising considering how well he was playing earlier in the year when he dusted the field in the final round to win the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

"I really have been [off]," Mickelson said. "I don't know what to say about that. The parts don't feel that far off, but I haven't been putting them together. It doesn't feel bad off the tee, it doesn't feel bad with the iron play, it doesn't feel bad chipping or putting, but I'm making a lot of loose drives here or there, some loose iron shots here or there, missing some short putts here or there."

Unfortunately for Mickelson, his game wasn't the only thing giving him trouble on Friday. He also suffered an unfortunate one-stroke penalty on the 11th hole when he went to mark his ball and his ball marker fell out of his hand and moved the ball. Even though Mickelson replaced the ball to its original spot after the incident, he was still required to add a stroke.

That incident pretty much summed up his week perfectly. Mickelson has another 10 days to work things out before Open Championship week, but the way things are going at the moment, it's difficult to see him being much of a factor at Royal Lytham and St Annes.