Tension spikes between Singh and Mickelson

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson are rivals, and now not the best of buddies.

The two players were involved is a confrontation in the locker room at Augusta National on Friday afternoon, following a complaint by Singh to a Masters rules officials that someone in the group in front of him was damaging the green with the metal spikes in his shoes.

That someone turned out to be Mickelson, the defending champion, who wasn’t happy with how it was handled.

“I confronted him,” Mickelson said later. “He expressed his concerns. I expressed my disappointment with the way it was handled. I believe everything is fine now.”

According to rules official Steve Rintoul, at the 12th, Singh complained of spike marks along the line of his 25-foot putt. Rules officials could see it was the same line where Mickelson had just had a 5-footer.

Up ahead, Mickelson was met by another rules official as he walked off the 13th green, who reported the complaints from a then-unnamed player. Mickelson apologized and offered to change his shoes between rounds, if his spikes were too long or if there was a “burr” on them that was nicking the greens.

“There wasn’t,” Will Nicholson, Masters competition chairman, said later, giving Mickelson’s footwear a clean bill of health.

It wasn’t until later that Mickelson, waiting out the rain delay, got ticked when he overhead Singh discussing the matter with other players.

“I was extremely distracted and would have appreciated it if it would have been handled different or after the round,” said Mickelson.

Singh left the course without commenting.

Except for the PGA Tour, metal spikes are virtually gone from golf in America; even many pros don’t wear them anymore.

Mickelson does. In fact, in recent weeks, said Callaway spokesman Larry Dorman, Mickelson had complained of slipping, prompting the company to switch him from 6-millimeter to 8-millimeter spikes.

Close call for Woods

Tiger Woods escaped a two-stroke penalty on the 14th hole of his first round when he leaned over to tap in for par and it appeared his right foot was behind the line of his putt.

Rule 16-1e does not allow players to putt with either foot touching the line or an extension of the line from the hole beyond the ball. After reviewing the putt, officials deemed the tape inconclusive.

Turns out that rule is under review.

“That rule was intended to eliminate the croquet putting style,” said Tom Meeks, senior director of rules and competition for the USGA. “We wanted to at least review with the R&A and possibly make an exception when someone steps behind his ball to avoid someone’s line.”

Duffers, take heart

Even Ernie Els struggles to find the right club sometimes.

Last year’s runner-up finished his first round at 3-over 75 Friday, and blamed his poor start on bad club selection. He spent much of Thursday in the trees at Augusta National, and had four bogeys in his first nine holes. He birdied two holes Friday, but also had a double-bogey on the par-3 No. 4.

“I couldn’t get my yardages right. My club selection was way off; really cost me a lot of shots,” Els said. “It’s a fine line. I’m trying to be as aggressive as I can, but I think I was a bit silly.”

Els’ rough outing left him eight strokes behind first-round leader Chris DiMarco – hardly the start he needed to win his first green jacket. But the three-time major winner isn’t conceding anything yet.

“A 75 is not a great score,” he said. “But on this course, it’s not out of it.”

In 2003, Els opened with a 79. He got right back into the mix with a 66 in the second round, and wound up tied for sixth.