'I don't see a good solution for anyone': How professional golf arrived at its breaking point

BROOKLINE, Mass. -- Phil Mickelson, alone, didn't break professional golf into two pieces.

A lot of cracks appeared, some taking years to form, to shape the current moment. But history will likely view Mickelson as a catalyst in the rupture. His ideas, his words, his hubris, his quest to maximize his value are at the center of the split. We won't know whether he is the villain of this story -- or the visionary -- for years to come.

He emerged from his four months in exile in all black and sporting a beard for the first time in his adult life, suddenly looking like a professional wrestler who left his longtime employer for a rival circuit. But there has been no brashness or arrogance in this…