“I think I can partner pretty well with pretty much anyone, except for Phil,” said Johnson.
“Me and Phil don’t partner well together. We do play well against each other. I love Phil and we’re great friends but we have a lot more fun when we’re playing against each other than when we’re partners.”
Dustin Johnson declares ‘don’t pair me with Phil’ at next week’s Ryder Cup.
Johnson’s views in not being paired with Mickelson stretches back to the 2010 Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor in Wales, when the two were paired for the opening day foursomes and fourballs.
However it proved a poor marriage losing the very match in Wales 3 & 2 to Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer and suffering the same 3 & 2 defeat later that day at the hands of Padraig Harrington and Ross Fisher.
Ever since that opening day the duo have been seperated.
Of course, ‘Lefty’ famously also had a nightmare partnership with Tiger Woods at the 2004 Ryder Cup.
They were arguably the best two players in the world at the time, and U.S. captain Hal Sutton thought they would be invincible together.
But that proved to be a terrible decision, as Woods and Mickelson lost both of their first-day matches. They have not been paired since.
Mickelson has a 16-19-6 (win-loss-halve) record from 10 Ryder Cups, while Johnson is 4-3-0 after two appearances.
When the American and European players gather at Hazeltine National in Chaska, Minnesota next week for the biennial showdown, one man missing will be world number one Jason Day.
The Australian is such a big Ryder Cup fan he is tempted to attend the event just to experience the atmosphere and feel the tension.
Instead, he will probably just make do with curling up in the comfort of his home in Ohio and watch the drama unfold via television.
“I get to sit on my couch and watch the other players sweat, which is fantastic,” Day said, before bringing up the issue of the American “task force” that was formed to come up with ideas on how to improve the U.S. team after they were crushed by Europe two years ago.
“If America doesn’t win, I wonder what’ll happen to that task force?” Day pondered, perhaps a little mischievously.
