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Phil Mickelson was 'emotional' when he learned of Pres Cup captain's pick
Phil Mickelson has been on every American team -- Presidents or Ryder Cup -- since 1994.
However, when Mickelson ended up 30th on the Presidents Cup points list after the Deutsche Bank Championship wrapped on Labor Day, the five-time major winner knew it might not be a given he would get one of captain Jay Haas' two wild-card picks.
In the end, Haas called for the wily, lefty veteran from the bullpen. Haas did it because the 10 players who automatically qualified wanted Mickelson on the team, a validation the moved Mickelson and motivates him this week.
“That meant more to me than anything and I'm appreciative of the chance to have felt how that feels to be wanted by the other players, and it was very emotional for me when I found out,” Mickelson said Tuesday from South Korea. “It makes me just want to play hard and do anything I can to help us succeed.”
Mickelson, who sports a 20-16-11 career Presidents Cup record, has doubled as a mentor to many of the younger players on this U.S. team and, as a future American captain himself, a mentee to Haas.
“Phil has been great already in the team room. He's been Phil, and he asks, ‘What do you want me to do?’” Haas said on Tuesday. “I said, ‘I want you to be you.’ I think that's one of the main reasons we picked him is to lift the players’ spirits, to keep them loose.”
Teammate Rickie Fowler has noticed Mickelson's significant impact.
“He is playing," Fowler said Tuesday, "but it’s almost like he’s in a captain role in a way.”
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
