"How’s this for crazy?" - When Phil Mickelson almost missed his tee time due to last-minute emergency

For Phil Mickelson, the proverb "lightning never strikes twice in the same place" could have had a different meaning had he missed his tee time at the 2019 BMW Championship. There was a kind of a funny incident that would have left Mickelson out of the tournament on that particular day.

The 2019 BMW Championship was played at the Medinah Country Club in Illinois. It was the fourth day of the tournament, and Phil Mickelson was 4-under at the end of the third day's play. After the third day got over, Mickelson went to a hotel near the golf course. But early on Sunday morning, Phil Mickelson was forcefully roused due to lightning hitting the hotel.

Mickelson was in his room on the top floor when the hotel building caught fire. Phil Mickelson and other guests were evacuated immediately, and the champion golfer was left without his clubs and clothes. Describing this entire incident on X (formerly Twitter), Mickelson wrote:

"How’s this for crazy? My hotel was struck by lightning, I was on the top floor, we were evacuated, and the place is on fire (only thing of mine on fire this week). I can’t get back into my room and may miss my tee time because I am without clubs and clothes."

While talking to PGATour that year, Phil Mickelson explained:

"Kind of a funny deal. The building got struck by lightning right above me and blew out a brick chimney and caught fire a little bit. There were 10 fire trucks. I got in my car and left and couldn’t get back. The roads were closed, and the hotel was closed. But things cleared up pretty quickly. I was able to get back in and get my stuff."

That day, Phil Mickelson had a 10:52 AM local tee time, and because of the incident, he had about half an hour to warm up. Mickelson finished the 2019 BMW Championship with 5-under for the tournament and tied for 48th place.

What happens if a golfer misses the tee time?

Just like Mickelson, Paul Casey almost missed his tee time in the opening round of the 2020 WGC-Mexico Championship. Casey thought that his opening tee time was 10:27 AM local time, but actually, it was 10:07 AM. Upon realizing his mistake, Paul Casey made a hard run and reached just in time to tee off for the first hole.

But the question remains—what if Phil Mickelson, Paul Casey, or any other golfer misses their tee time? What kind of consequences do they have to face? Here is the answer.

Rule 5.3a suggests that golfers must tee off at the exact time of their allotted tee time; they can neither do it early nor late. If a golfer tees off less than five minutes early, he will receive a penalty of two strokes, which is called a general penalty. The same rule applies to a golfer who is less than five minutes late.

If the golfer exceeds the five-minute rule either way, then he will be disqualified. The general penalty rule states that if a player arrives at the tee two minutes late or tees off slightly early, then his opponent will be 1-up as that player will lose the hole.