Phil Mickelson calls lawn mowing activist an 'inspiration' as latter appeals to the White House

Phil Mickelson called lawn-mowing activist Rodney Smith Jr. an 'inspiration' as the latter appealed to the White House. Mickelson often shares his opinions on X and never shies away from talking about his thoughts on a public platform. Recently, he shared his views about a mowing activist making a plea to the White House.

Smith made a plea on X to give him a chance to mow the Arlington National Cemetery or even at the White House for once in a lifetime. Smith also added in the post that it would be the greatest honor of his life. As this came to the notice of Mickelson, he called it inspiring by writing:

“This man is an inspiration”

Phil Mickelson last played at the LIV Golf Michigan-Stroke Play and finished at T29. His best finish of the 2025 LIV Golf season came at LIV Golf Hong Kong with a third-place finish. His other top 10 performances were the LIV Golf Virginia and the LIV Golf Miami with a T4 and sixth-place finish, respectively.

Phil Mickelson gave a shout-out to the USA after their incredible performance at the Ryder Cup singles

The 2025 Ryder Cup USA team showed an incredible performance during the Sunday singles by winning six out of twelve matches and tying in five of them. Until Saturday, they didn't perform well in the foursomes and fourballs, but on Sunday, they made a comeback by giving a head-to-head fight to the European team. The final scores between Europe and America were 15-13 as the European side retained the cup.

Watching Team USA’s inspiring performance, fellow American Mickelson shared his thoughts on X. He also sent best wishes to the captain, Keegan Bradley, and the players in the same post. Mickelson wrote:

“Team USA🇺🇸🇺🇸 gave one of the most incredible and inspiring Sunday performances. Amy and I want to send our best to Captain Keegan and the rest of the team who played every shot with so much heart and represented the United States so well. Go USA.”

As a follow-up to his previous post, Mickelson also congratulated Team Europe by writing:

“And of course, congratulations to Team Europe on another incredible win!”

Europe won three out of four Friday foursomes and two out of four Friday fourballs at the 2025 Ryder Cup. Furthermore, the European side won three out of four Saturday foursomes and fourballs. In the singles, Europe won only one event, where Ludvig Aberg defeated Patrick Cantlay.

In 2023, the European side won the trophy at the Ryder Cup against the American side with 16.5-11.5, but Mickelson wasn't a part of that edition. Lefty was a part of the winning Ryder Cup team three times in 1999, 2008, and 2016.

About the author

Suchita Chakraborty is a senior golf writer at Sportskeeda. She did her post-graduation at St. Xavier's University. For a year now, she has developed a riveting inclination toward golf, with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy being her top-tier motivational figures to indulge in the sport. She even lives by the words of the Hall of Famer, "You can always become better", which impels her to excel every day. Her strong suit in golf is covering the LPGA Tour, especially the nooks and crannies of the international event, the Solheim Cup. As a pastime amusement, Suchita also engages herself in reading about golf controversies. Her favorite pick is ‘LIV and Let Die’ by Alan Shipnuck, which covers the PGA-LIV beef.

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Edited by Mitali