Brandel Chamblee claims Phil Mickelson lied about Tom Watson’s Ryder Cup approach

With Tiger Woods out of action at least until December, Brandel Chamblee has a new object of scorn in Phil Mickelson, whom the Golf Channel analyst claimed lied about U.S. Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson’s approach at Gleneagles.

Mickelson, as most everyone in golf circles knows by now, used the post-defeat press conference to take an indirect jab at Watson’s leadership by boosting 2008 captain Paul Azinger’s system that encouraged all his players to become “invested.” Non-stop fallout from Lefty’s remarks has ensued, including Watson taking responsibility for communications miscues and Chamblee blaming Mickelson and Woods (absent from last month’s debacle in Scotland) for “corrupting” the entire Ryder Cup experience.

Now, the outspoken Chamblee is calling Mickelson a liar.

“In that press conference, Phil said they didn’t have any say in this Ryder Cup,” Chamblee said on The John Feinstein Show on Wednesday. “And I know for a fact that all the players were brought together with their caddies and Tom walked amongst them and said, ‘Tell me who you want to play with. Write it down on a sheet of paper, and all of you tell me who you want to play with. Let me know.’ And everybody but one person contributed there.

“So, what Phil said was not, in fact, true,” Chamblee told Feinstein. “They were allowed to contribute – and who they played with was pretty much the way Paul Azinger went about his captaincy.”

Chamblee conceded that the rigid Watson may not have had “the best bedside manner,” but agreed with what the skipper was trying to accomplish.

“Tom Watson was unfairly denigrated,” Chamblee said. “In an event where pride is always at stake, if you lose -- and I think this is what Tom Watson was trying to get across to his team -- there should be some loss of pride.”

Chamblee, who has over the years saved some of his most pointed rebukes for Woods, now has Mickelson in the crosshairs and pretty much blamed the five-time major winner for the Americans’ lousy Ryder Cup record of late.

“Tom Watson wasn’t on the last 10 Ryder Cup teams,” said Chamblee. “Nor was Tiger Woods. The one common denominator is Phil Mickelson.

“Phil Mickelson has been on the last 10 Ryder Cup teams. They’ve lost eight of them,” Chamblee continued. “I’m not saying it’s Phil’s fault, but it’s not Paul Azinger’s fault that they won and it’s not Tom Watson’s fault that they lost. The players should take enough pride ... in the outcome of the Ryder Cup -- in particular the player leaders.”