Phil Mickelson has been embroiled in a bitter war of words with the PGA Tour for several years, and his anger has only heightened following the suspension of Wesley Bryan.
Phil Mickelson remains at loggerheads with the PGA Tour. His feud with the organisation has continued after Wesley Bryan was suspended for participating in a LIV Golf event.
Earlier this month, LIV debuted The Duels, a new format that paired six professionals from the Saudi-backed tour with social media influencers. Sergio Garcia, Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson, Mickelson, and Bryan were all involved.
Aa àaa aàDespite barely playing in recent times and not holding a card, Bryan has been suspended by the PGA Tour. A furious Mickelson called for the US Department of Justice to intervene as he spoke out against the decision.
He said: “Here’s a question. Normally when an entity violates independent contract law, they deny that it happened and forces the contractor/individual to prove that it did.
“In this case the PGA Tour blatantly admits they are illegally banning an independent contractor, so why doesn’t they DOJ step in and enforce the law? Why does the individual have to sue to enforcer the law? DOJ do your f****** job!”.
The tirade is just the latest in several shots Mickelson has taken at the PGA Tour going back to before he even left for LIV…
‘GREEDY’ ACCUSATION.
In early 2022, with rumours running wild over his future, ‘Leftie’ took a shot at the PGA Tour, accusing it of greed amid his long-held complaint over media rights.
He told Golf Digest: “There are many issues, but that is one of the biggest. For me, personally, it’s not enough that they are sitting on hundreds of millions of digital moments. They also have access to my shots, access I do not have.
“They also charge companies to use shots I have hit. And when I did ‘The Match’ – there have been five of them – the tour forced me to pay them $1million [£750,000] each time. For my own media rights. That type of greed is, to me, beyond obnoxious.”
Mickelson also claimed that the Tour controls a vast wealth of media assets worth “roughly $20billion” (£15billion) and countless digital moments that he believes should be owned by the players.
The PGA Tour hit back, disputing Mickelson’s allegations. An executive told GOLF.com that most players are content with the Tour’s financial operations, saying: “I’ve never seen anybody be really interested in how we generate the money.
“There’s some conversation about it now because, you know, Phil’s making stuff up that’s just not true. But in general, they’re happy that there’s a lot of money that comes from it.”
According to the Tour, it shares more than half of its annual revenue, which is around $1.5bn (£1.13m), with the players, aligning with the practices of other professional sports leagues.
MONAHAN CRITICISM.
Mickelson hasn’t minced his words when it comes PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan. In November, amid rumours Monahan might ousted if a deal between the Tour and Saudi’s PIF became reality, he said: “Golf is in this situation entirely because of [Monahan]”.
He also said that the Tour chief was “losing trust with his players” and that “there’s no unity or path forward with [Monahan] involved in my opinion as well.”
‘$1BILLION PEACE OFFER’.
In a bombshell claim, Mickelson claimed that he’d proposed a whopping $1 billion (£750m) compromise to the Tour by way of “eight elevated events”. Mickelson revealed: “Before I left I brought a $1 billion commitment from a current PGA Tour partner to have 8 elevated events and give equity and ownership in these events to the players. JM’s quote was: ‘I don’t believe the league is going to happen so we won’t be doing that’. No vote, no discussion.”
APOLOGY DEMAND.
One year after LIV Golf launched, Mickelson called for an apology from the PGA Tour. This came in response to a leaked memo implying that he and other vocal critics of the PGA Tour would face harsher treatment than other players if they chose to return.
Mickelson said, “What a huge waste of time. No one on LIV has any interest in playing on the PGA Tour.
“A public apology and compensation are owed to LIV players for the millions spent on media to attack us. A more relevant discussion would be potential penalties for the many players now joining LIV.”
TIGER WOODS DINNER SNUB.
In Alan Shipnuck’s ‘LIV and Let Die’ book, it was alleged that Tiger Woods had Mickelson blocked from a past champions’ dinner at the 150th Open Championship in 2022. An unnamed source claimed: “He [Woods] talked to a handful of other [past champions] to get their blessing and then went to the RandA and told them, basically, no one wanted Phil there and it would make the night weird and awkward. Whose side were they going to take, Tiger’s or Phil’s? That’s an easy choice.”
STILL TALKING UP LIV.
LIV Golf has Mickelson’s complete support because he believes multiple factors establish it as superior to PGA Tour operations. He expressed his views to The Joe Pomp Show this year when he stated that LIV events create exceptional experiences. The present of music while playing golf is one reason why many players choose LIV Golf over PGA Tour. The little group does not create any verbal interruptions.
The music playing during your golf rounds combined with quiet family limits cause you less tension about keeping your children quiet. The course features an area known as the fan zone allowing fans to relax and drink beverages similar to a typical event zone. It’s like a little hang. You can take a nap.
The kid zone by the clubhouse provides napping areas as well as putt-putt games and entertainment features that show the golf action to parents.
Going to that place creates a sense of relaxation through its atmosphere. You feel comfortable. Everything was perfect for our children during our visit to the venue. I was relaxed. I wasn’t worried’. The single reason LIV will achieve success is according to my thoughts.
