Phil Mickelson insisted he meant no disrespect when he opted to putt a moving ball in the third round of the US Open -- swallowing a sextuple bogey at the 13th hole.
Mickelson's bogey putt at Shinnecock Hills' par-four 13th skated past the cup and was heading down a slope when he trotted after it and batted it back toward the hole with his putter.
He needed eight strokes to get the ball in the hole and with a two-stroke penalty walked off with a sextuple bogey 10 on the way to his highest ever round in 27 US Open appearances of 11-over 81.
Playing partner Andrew Johnston called it "a moment of madness".
But Mickelson said the incident wasn't a childish display of frustration from a five-time major champion celebrating his 48th birthday.
Instead, he said, he decided the two-stroke penalty he knew he would receive would be preferable to letting the ball escape off the green.
"Look, I don't mean disrespect to anybody," he said. "I know it's a two-shot penalty. At that time, I just didn't feel like going back and forth and hitting the same shot over.
"It's meant to take advantage of the rules as best as you can. In that situation, I was just going back and forth. I would gladly take the two shots over continuing that display."
- US Open saga -
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John Bodenhamer of the US Golf Association said Mickelson was penalized two strokes for violating rule 14-5 by "making a stroke at a moving ball."
"That's where we clarified," Davis said, telling Mickelson he "made a stroke at a moving ball, and so we have to apply that rule."