Stephan Savoia / AP

Phil Mickelsonl, who won the Deutsche Bank Championship on Monday but will skip the BMW Championship this week, has left everyone scratching their heads, writes Doug Ferguson of AP.

ON THE FRINGE

By Doug Ferguson

updated 7:36 p.m. ET Sept. 4, 2007

LEMONT, Ill. - Phil Mickelson can be impulsive and unpredictable, reckless and rash, but always a topic of conversation. He is capable of making people turn their heads one minute and shake their heads the next.

He’s like that on the golf course, too.

Mickelson left everyone scratching their heads during an 18-hour mystery tour in which he beat Tiger Woods in a riveting battle outside Boston; used a national television interview to air his complaints about PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem; showed up in Chicago for a corporate outing; and withdrew from the BMW Championship by saying he wasn’t trying to send a message.

“This decision was not an easy one to make,” Mickelson said in a statement.

It was even tougher to interpret.

Mickelson had no intention of playing a third straight week in the PGA Tour Playoffs even before he teed it up Friday at the Deutsche Bank Championship, with Woods and Vijay Singh at his side.

Perhaps one reason was his paltry record at Cog Hill, where he has never cracked the top 25 in 10 starts. Maybe he was starting to feel fatigued, knowing that a full schedule through the Presidents Cup would mean seven tournaments in nine weeks. Or he could have wanted to join Woods and Ernie Els by skipping one playoff event.

All of those reasons would have been acceptable.

Anyone who thinks this FedEx Cup finale isn’t working because one player stays home hasn’t been paying attention. These “playoffs” are bringing together a great collection of players and producing exciting golf. Through two weeks, there is no denying that.

No one remembers that Woods skipped The Barclays. No one knew Els was missing last week at the Deutsche Bank. And the BMW Championship will get by just fine without Mickelson.

For some reason, though, Mickelson wanted to make it personal.

His two-shot victory while playing with Woods in the final round at the TPC Boston gave him a platform to celebrate his biggest victory this side of a major, and he elected to turn that into a soap box.

Jimmy Roberts of NBC Sports, aware of the rumors that Mickelson might miss Chicago, asked him if would play.

“I’m really torn, because I feel like there’s an obligation for me to play,” Mickelson said. “I’d be paired with Tiger again. I think it would be really great for the game and the tour and the FedEx Cup. Another part of me is really frustrated because for the past year, I’ve been asking the commissioner to do a couple of things, and I told him I would play the last four events, and he has not done that.

“So I’m kind of torn.”