The post Phil Mickelson hints at new criteria by which LIV players could qualify for majors appeared first on Golf.

The post Phil Mickelson hints at new criteria by which LIV players could qualify for majors appeared first on Golf.

Even if LIV Golf doesn’t receive Official World Golf Ranking points, Phil Mickelson still sees a path for the tour’s players to earn entry into golf’s biggest tournaments.

“It’s going to all iron itself out because if you’re one of the majors, if you’re the Masters, you’re not looking at we should keep these guys out,” Mickelson said Wednesday ahead of LIV Golf Singapore. “You’re saying to yourself, we want to have the best field, we want to have the best players, and these guys added a lot to the tournament this year at the Masters.”

The Official World Golf Ranking, which is currently the main entryway for pros to earn exemptions into major championships without going through qualifying, has been reviewing the Saudi-backed league’s application for ranking points since the summer. Meanwhile, LIV members have seen their rankings plummet as a result, jeopardizing qualification into future majors for those who do not hold exemptions by other means.

Both the PGA and DP World Tours have successfully barred LIV golfers from their events, leaving just the majors and Asian Tour events as avenues to collect significant ranking points.

By virtue of his win at the 2021 PGA Championship, Mickelson is exempt into every major until the 2026 U.S. Open.

But take the example of last week’s winner, Talor Gooch. Gooch was No. 35 in the world in May 2022, before joining LIV Golf. Since then, he has played in just six OWGR-recognized events and fallen to No. 59 in the ranking. Assuming he falls out of the top 60 by June, which is likely, he won’t play in any more majors this year without participating in open qualifying.

“You should realize that the OWGR is not accurate, one,” said Bryson DeChambeau when asked specifically about Gooch Wednesday. “Two, I think that they need to come to a resolution or it will become obsolete. It’s pretty much almost obsolete as of right now. But again, if the majors and everything continue to have that as their ranking system, then they are biting it quite heavily.”

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“To keep [top LIV Golfers] out or to make them lose World Ranking points is not the right way to go,” added Bubba Watson. “I’ve said it, and I’m going to say it again. I believe we’ve just got to focus on the tours and our league, and the top players; if that means the PGA Tour gets 60 to 75 guys from there to be in every major, great. And if that means ten to 15 of our guys, at the end of the year, whoever has the most points get in the majors, great.

“Forget World Ranking points, just who is the best in your tour and our league and go from there. That’s how you do it. It’s simple math.”

Mickelson, who was one of three LIV golfers to finish in the top four at the Masters three weeks ago, offered a similar solution of either taking the top five or 10 players from LIVs points or event winners list and granting them entry to the majors.

“They’re going to have to find a way to get the best LIV players in their field if they want to have the best field in golf and be really what major championship is about,” Mickelson said. “If the World Golf Rankings doesn’t find a way to be inclusive, then the majors will just find another way to include LIV because it’s no longer a credible way.

“So it will all iron itself out for the simple reason that it’s in the best interest of everybody, especially the tournaments, the majors, to have the best players.”

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The post Was this Phil Mickelson tweet about Rory McIlroy sarcastic? He says not appeared first on Golf.

The post Was this Phil Mickelson tweet about Rory McIlroy sarcastic? He says not appeared first on Golf.

Phil Mickelson got back on Twitter this week and it’s been … interesting, to say the least.

He even tweeted about the drama unfolding on the DP World Tour this week between Rory McIlroy and Mickelson’s fellow LIV golfer Patrick Reed.

If it felt weird that Mickelson was promoting an event other than a LIV Golf tournament, or pushing people to watch Golf Channel, which is obviously a rights holder of the PGA Tour, that’s because it was.

Mickelson’s Twitter had largely been dormant the past year, as the dust settled from his comments on the Saudi Arabian government, his subsequent jump to LIV Golf and the ensuing lawsuit that came with it. He dropped out of the lawsuit in September and ever since LIV’s debut season ended in November, he’s slowly returned to more colorful posting on the site, rather than just sharing highlights from LIV Golf.

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Yet still, promoting a different event altogether still seemed odd, which begged the question: Was he being sarcastic?

Turns out, Mickelson was pretty genuine, he said.

“I thought the final round was incredible,” Mickelson said Tuesday ahead of the PIF Saudi International. “Both players played some great golf. Patrick played an incredible final round, and Rory didn’t really have his best stuff throughout the day, but he fought hard for the last two to win, and I think that shows a lot about the kind of champion and player he is.”

He called the controversy stirred up by McIlroy and Reed’s “Teegate” incident earlier in the week, and then Reed’s tree drop ruling on Sunday, “a really good thing.”

“When you have characters in the game, when you have controversy in the game, I think it creates a lot more excitement, a lot more awareness,” he said. “What transpired early in the week with Patrick and Rory added to the excitement level.”

Mickelson has been no stranger to controversy over the past year, between his Saudia Arabia comments and subsequent defection to LIV. And according to Mickelson, all press is good press.

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“I thought it was great for the game to have that type of interest, and it’s been interest throughout the globe,” he said.

Mickelson has not teed it up in DP World Tour events since joining LIV Golf as Reed, Ian Poulter and others have while their suspensions are being settled in a UK court case. That case is set to be decided sometime next month, and Mickelson said that will be an even bigger boost to the controversy factor in later DP World Tour events.

“I expect that the players, the LIV players will win their case in the UK, and we’ll open the doors for all players to play on the European Tour,” he said. “There’s a very good chance that you’ll have more showdowns, more head-to-head competitions like you saw last week in Dubai, and I think that would be a really good thing for the game.”

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The post ‘You could just tell:’ How Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay landed on Phil Mickelson’s bag appeared first on Golf.

The post ‘You could just tell:’ How Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay landed on Phil Mickelson’s bag appeared first on Golf.

There’s an old adage among PGA Tour caddies: You never want to be a great player’s first looper.

Jim “Bones” Mackay told GOLF’s Subpar co-hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stolz on this week’s episode that Tour caddies have noted a trend of great players quickly replacing their loopers after starting their Tour careers. Take, for example, Tiger Woods splitting from Mike “Fluff” Cowan after less than three years.

That’s why Mackay had low expectations for the pairing with his famous most boss: Phil Mickelson.

“The reality of that job and that situation is that he’s going to now come out on the Tour, he’s going to play, there’s 150 other caddies out there,” Mackay said in the clip from the podcast you can watch above. “He’s going to run into some guy who thinks he’s the greatest guy ever who’s very, very capable and that’s who he’s going to want to have caddie for him.

“So I didn’t have any illusions when I went to work for him. I thought this might last a year or so.”

The partnership, which would eventually last 25 years and become recognized as one of the most famous player-caddie duos in golf, started off exactly how you would have expected: Bones stopping to sit and watch a random, left-handed college player hitting balls on the range one evening as he was visiting his favorite record store in Tempe, Arizona.

“Before I took a right to go to the record store, that’s where the range was, the private range for the ASU golf teams. And this one evening there was a left-hander hitting balls,” Mackay recalled of the first time he met Mickelson. “So I went into the store, bought my CDs, drove back the guy was still hitting balls. It was Phil, and I got within 20 or 30 feet of him and said, ‘Do you mind if I watch you hit a few?’

“He said, ‘Not really. Help yourself.’ I sat on a bench, watched him hit balls for 10 minutes and just got in my car and left.”

Even from that short sample size, Mackay, who was then looping for Scott Simpson and Curtis Strange, knew he had just seen something special.

“You could just tell,” Mackay said. “You could just look at the way his hands went on the club, you know, in terms of like how [Seve] Ballesteros did — that he looks like he was born with a club in his hand and the speed and, the wedges and whatnot. The guy was a world beater when, at this point, he was 20, 21.”

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Mackay never seriously considered taking on the college star’s bag when he turned professional, until then-Arizona State coach Steve Loy approached Mackay at the 1992 Tucson Open about finding a caddie for Mickelson. By that point, Mickelson had already won on the PGA Tour in 1991 while still an amateur. Mackay said he had to leave the conversation abruptly when Strange emerged from the locker room and headed out to the range, meaning Mackay had to go with him.

Mackay didn’t get any contact information for Loy, so he sent a note with his contact information to the Arizona State athletic department apologizing for the abrupt end to the conversation and offering his help to find Mickelson a caddie.

Mackay doesn’t remember if Mickelson ever told him he actually saw the note, but Lefty offered him the job during a practice round later that year at the Players Championship. Mackay was caddying for Simpson, who was playing with the still amateur Mickelson and Gary McCord (because why not?) that day.

“It’s Simpson, McCord and Phil on the 10th tee at the Players and we’re waiting for the fairway to clear and this conversation happens between Phil and I,” Mackay recalled. “I said, ‘Can I think about it while we’re out here for a couple of hours?’ You know, because it completely caught me off guard.

“And, of course, every atom in your body is screaming: You got to do this.”

It was an easy yes for Mackay, and when Mickelson turned pro that June at the U.S. Open, Bones was on the bag. The partnership resulted in 42 PGA Tour wins and five major titles.

Check out below to listen to the entire episode as Mackay discusses his nickname, caddying for Justin Thomas and more.

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The post What’s a LIV Golf event *really* like? I spent 3 days at one to find out appeared first on Golf.

The post What’s a LIV Golf event *really* like? I spent 3 days at one to find out appeared first on Golf.

Wednesday: This doesn’t feel like a golf tournament.

Thursday: This doesn’t feel like a golf tournament.

(Friday and Saturday: I didn’t watch any golf.)

Sunday: Oh wow, this feels like a golf tournament.

I haven’t exactly been quiet about my general skepticism toward LIV Golf. The league has, after all, been an easy target. Take the recent announcement from LIV about its shorts policy. The press release read: “It’s believed to be the first time an elite professional golf league has allowed shorts to be worn during a round.” My immediate reaction was: What, so they don’t consider the LPGA to be an elite professional golf league?

There have been other little misses. I’ve had a tough time getting into the events’ YouTube broadcasts. I scoffed at Talor Gooch comparing his team’s LIV victory at Pumpkin Ridge to a Ryder Cup win and chuckled when an announcer said “Joaquin Lahiri” instead of “Anirban Lahiri.” And then there’s the considerable human-rights issues that come with the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia funding the league, which has created a divide in men’s golf.

I arrived at The International, the site of LIV Golf’s Boston event, for Wednesday’s pressers and practice rounds with little idea about what to expect. I’ve been to my fair share of PGA Tour and high-level amateur events but knew this would be different. But different how?

WEDNESDAY

It was easy to confirm my biases early in the week. LIV doesn’t allow spectators for practice rounds or pro-ams, so The International felt empty. While there were some notable moments from the Harold Varner-Bubba Watson shared press conference  — Varner was brutally honest about how tough the first 24 hours were in regard to social comments and feedback after committing to LIV — there were a handful of “what is going on?” moments for me, too.

A few guys in the media center (comedians, I think?) had some fun with their questions and asked Watson, “Since you have an injury right now, do you think there’s a chance maybe I could play for you? I’m like a 6 handicap, so I could hold up, maybe be like a 4 on a good day.” Later, the same guys asked Cameron Smith if he would “try to buy Florida” and about his hair routine. I tried to think about what would happen if someone asked major champions those same questions at, say, the Arnold Palmer Invitational. But this isn’t Bay Hill, nor does LIV want it to be.

After Wednesday’s pressers, I headed out to the course. I thought I was being punk’d. Aside from workers setting up a stage and LIV guest village, the course was empty. Turned out, the players weren’t starting their practice rounds until later in the afternoon. l walked back to the range and was relieved to find players there, alongside a handful of military veterans, whom LIV had invited for the day. I talked to a few vets who were loving the access. They were inside the ropes, standing just a few feet behind Cameron Smith on the range. “How cool is this?” one said. He had been to a handful of pro tournaments, but never this close. Thirty seconds later, he was asking a pro for a photo and an autograph while the player switched clubs.

The whole thing felt like a private event for which I had arrived awkwardly early.

THURSDAY

I returned to The International on Thursday. Based on festive social-media footage from the previous night’s LIV gala, I was hoping for a bit more action at the course. I met a member of the club who was caddying in the pro-am who told me that the membership was psyched about the event. He and his wife were volunteering for the week, and a few members had rented out their houses for players to stay in. I did what I usually do at events, walking most of the course forward and then turning around, walking it backward back toward No. 1, catching a shot or two from each group along the way.

I passed by Phil Mickelson’s group and learned that I share a mutual friend with one of the amateurs in his group. I walked two holes with him and his wife. They raved about the pairing party, and understandably so: They got the third pick of the night and discovered no one had chosen Phil yet. They were ecstatic at the opportunity to play with Mickelson and said he was the “nicest guy ever.” Martin Kaymer had played in a previous pro-am with the other amateur in the group, who was rocking a J.P. McManus Pro-Am bag. When a spot opened up, Kaymer invited him back to play this week. 

Phil got pulled aside to answer some questions for a video on the tee box of a par-3 and was definitely enjoying this particular hit. His energy was high and he was fully engaged. I wondered what it was like for him to go from playing all of his practice rounds and pro-ams in front of thousands of eager fans to no one at all. I continued my trek back to the media center. On the way, I ran into another amateur. He gestured to his group. “Don’t the pros just seem so much happier here?” he asked. It’s a point everyone in attendance delights in making.

I lost my bearings somewhere between the 3rd tee box and the 1st green (The International is quite a walk!), so I asked two guys for directions. They were LIV employees who looked to be in their early- to mid-twenties. It was their first week on the job. One came from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the other from the finance world. They were mostly there to observe the scene, just like I was. The whole us-vs.-them thing doesn’t exist at LIV events. After all, those on the ground assume everyone else there is all in.

I had had a conflict on Friday and Saturday, so I didn’t go to the tournament. Let’s fast-forward to Sunday morning.

SUNDAY

I arrived at about 10:30 a.m. Because the shotgun start wasn’t until after 1, I figured I’d be one of the first people on site. Wrong. The media lot was full, as was the fan zone, and people were milling all around the range. This was a full hour before any of the players even headed out. It was a crisp morning, music was playing, fans were playing putting and chipping games and the mood was up. It’s worth noting that big-time Tour events are electric on Sunday mornings, too, but this exceeded my expectations for LIV. It felt like a college football tailgate.

The practice area started to fill up just before noon. I was curious how it’d be with every player needing to use the practice facilities at the same time, but with a 48-player field, it worked. No one had to wait for a spot on the range or a hole on the green. Players were sorted by team on the range, and the mood felt relaxed. Cameron Smith went over to Lee Westwood and tried to pull down his socks. Smith jammed to the music playing over the speaker, and a few of the caddies lingered together. Matt Jones took a few moments to inspect Smith’s divot pattern (I learned he hits in a horizontal line as opposed to a vertical one). The ropes were fully lined with spectators, probably two people deep by the putting green and at least four deep by the range.

“Golfers and caddies, you have five minutes until the range closes and it’s time to go to your carts to head out to your starting hole.”

The emcee was doing his thing. He announced that Diplo would be performing after the round (and that they’d be selecting a lucky winner for a meet and greet, provided you used the correct hashtag). This part reminded me a bit of halftime at a college basketball game. He reminded spectators to check out the merchandise tent and even offered directions to the players. 

“Golfers and caddies, the range is now closed. Please head to your carts to be driven out to your starting hole.”

The players headed over to the left side of the range to hop into their carts, and I made my way over to the 1st tee. It was early afternoon and officially hot out. I didn’t count by hand, but I’d guess there were a few hundred people around the tee box and lining the 1st fairway. The gender ratio seemed to be close to 1:1, which I don’t think I’ve ever seen at a golf tournament before. I also was surprised to see the fans skewed younger than your average Tour event, a point the pros repeatedly hit on later. I saw a lot of college golf shirts from nearby Boston schools as well as parents with young kids. A volunteer told me they capped the event somewhere between 5,500 and 6,000 fans.

There were also at least 30 people inside the ropes. I found myself standing next to Bubba Watson as he mixed it up with fans and got people pumped up. Some sort of smoke machine went off in the middle of the fairway as the first group off No. 1, which included Matthew Wolff, made its way to the tee. A few skydivers appeared. People were cheering, and little kids were loving it. There was a huge countdown from 10 to the shotgun start, and people went nuts after reaching zero. It was like the fratty Massachusetts countryside’s answer to Times Square at New Year’s.

While the rowdiest, frattiest fans may be hushed at other events, they were fully embraced at LIV Boston. When a videographer saw one group of bros going nuts, he encouraged them to dial it up a notch while he recorded. The music is turned down slightly when players tee off, but it definitely doesn’t stop.

Dustin Johnson, Joaquin Niemann and Talor Gooch came to the 1st tee next. LIV has the last two groups go off the 1st hole to make for a better finishing stretch. The crowd had stayed in place after the first group teed off, waiting around to see these guys. I’ve spent a lot of time watching Johnson play golf, and something was different this time: I have never seen him talk this much. He and Greg Norman stood together, catching up and cracking jokes. Norman reached into DJ’s bag at one point to take a swing with his 9-wood, a club he was curious about.

I stood on the 1st tee for a couple hours to watch groups come through. There was at least 15 minutes of waiting time in between each group, which felt like a slightly longer interval than normal but made sense for a shotgun start. I chatted with the volunteer who was in charge of the 1st tee; this was her third LIV event. She was in her 50s, wore a Trump golf shirt and has spent much time around golf. She has volunteered at the Honda Classic for years and decided to do some LIV events this year.

“Take this long and we’ll be here all effin’ day, right, Harold?”

Oh no. This won’t be good. The first fan misdemeanor of the day occurred when Ian Poulter stepped off his tee shot at No. 1, and an over-served man delivered this observation to Harold Varner, who was playing in Poulter’s group. I anxiously awaited Poulter’s reaction. He walked to his bag, put away his driver and fired back at the fan with a choice two-word phrase.

The volunteer told me about a fan who shouted to Patrick Reed on Friday, “Hey, make sure to mark your ball this week!” Reed, the volunteer said, had the fan escorted off the property.

I waited a while for Phil and his group to make their way to the 1st tee. I expected there to be a huge crowd with him, but there wasn’t. Maybe that was due to his place on the leaderboard, or the distance from the 18th green to the 1st tee. I met a golf influencer who LIV had brought in to cover the action via Instagram, and she told me to check out the back nine.

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I headed to the 18th hole, which has an amphitheater green. About 150 people were sitting there watching. I heard a rumor that a Saudi prince was in one of the private boxes above the green as well.

I had to get back to work (my primary role at GOLF is in social media) so I settled in front of my computer to watch the final holes via the YouTube broadcast. I think any golf fan would have been excited to see DJ’s putt drop on the first playoff hole.

I’m glad I went back on Sunday because it allowed me to see LIV in action, to feel the energy of the event. It did have a different vibe than a typical tournament; the music guaranteed that. LIV’s focus is clearly on fan enjoyment and engagement.

I left LIV Boston with a different perspective on the whole thing. I’m not overly enamored with Greg Norman. I don’t like the way this has fractured the PGA Tour. I have serious misgivings about the source of LIV’s money. And (shoutout to Judge Freeman) I think the LIV players’ lawsuit is a little ridiculous. I was surprised to hear how many players believe they’ll tee it up on the PGA Tour again.

But it was eye-opening to see LIV’s model at work. As a spectator experience, the league undoubtedly is a draw for fans who want to cut loose and enjoy getting a little rowdy. The fan village was an easy win for kids, as were the skydivers and thumping music.

Someone asked me if I’d compare my experience at The International to what I’ve seen when the Harlem Globetrotters come to town. From a festivities and celebrations standpoint, maybe. But the Globetrotters aren’t trying to replace the NBA, nor do they have some of the biggest talents in their sport. LIV Golf does. And that’s what makes its future so complex.

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The post Tour Confidential: LIV Golf’s newest gets, Phil Mickelson, Tiger and Serena appeared first on Golf.

The post Tour Confidential: LIV Golf’s newest gets, Phil Mickelson, Tiger and Serena appeared first on Golf.

Check in every week for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors as they break down the hottest topics in the sport, and join the conversation by tweeting us @golf_com. This week, the most recent defections to LIV Golf, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods taking in Serena Williams at the U.S. Open.

1. The latest batch of LIV Golf defections came in on Tuesday, and the list of players was … not too surprising! World No. 2 Cameron Smith marked the highest-profile signing, joining the new league just weeks after winning the Open Championship at St. Andrews. How important was this batch of defections for LIV?

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Josh Sens, senior writer (@JoshSens): Every player LIV picks up is a victory of a kind. But Smith is the biggest so far–the reigning Open and Players champ, the World No. 2, the first guy, really, who LIV critics couldn’t fully dismiss, whether by saying he was either past his prime or never that gung-ho about competition in the first place. On the other hand, LIV didn’t land Hideki, whose market impact would have felt even bigger.

James Colgan, assistant editor (@jamescolgan26): It felt as if this batch of LIV defections was the first in which you picked your head up and realized, ‘whoa, the PGA Tour has lost a TON of talent.’ Sure, it helps the argument to see a 23-year-old multi-time winner and the World No. 2 join. But it’s hard to keep up the argument the LIV field consists only of old has-beens and burnout youngsters. This crop brought top-tier talent.

Sean Zak, senior editor (@sean_zak): If Sunday was any indication, hugely important. You had Cam Smith vs. Dustin Johnson vs. Joaquin Niemann. That’s entertaining! IT was the first time LIV Golf has truly entertained me with its finish, and I’m not particularly hard to please. I think in terms of marketability, it was massive. Because the reigning Players Champ and Open Champ is now in all their promotional material. That’s a nice bullet to have in the chamber.

2. Phil Mickelson basked in the changing landscape in pro golf at LIV Golf Boston (where he finished T40). On the topic of structural changes enacted by the PGA Tour, Mickelson argued they proved the Tour needed a rival. (“Unless there was leverage, nothing was going to happen,” he said.) With a rival league helping to force major changes on the PGA Tour, was Phil right?

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Sens: He was right about the leverage. No way we would have seen such big changes so fast. And he was right that these changes are great for many pro-golfer bank accounts. It’s also been great for headlines and clicks. Whether all the shake ups have been great for fans is another matter. I don’t see any immediate perks, unless you’re caught up in that weird faux-populist belief that more money for already rich athletes is somehow a victory for the rest of us. To me, that’s been one of the most striking phenomena in all of this. All the cheering from the sidelines about sticking it to the system. Something we see more often in politics. Oh, wait. I forgot. Stick to sports!

Colgan: He was right, of course, but the irony is that he won’t ever be remembered for it. Right or wrong, Phil has tied his legacy to LIV. Maybe the PGA Tour needed his push, but no amount of victory laps is going to bring him back to see the fruits of his labor.

Zak: He was right but also wrong? Phil has routinely glossed over important details and even cited information incorrectly in this process of “being right” against the PGA Tour. So good for him! He can continue to bask in it, but I’ll continue to believe that there was an easier process than looping in money from Saudi Arabia. 

3. Bubba Watson, one of LIV’s newest players, said he was at peace with his decision to join, even if it cost him an invitation to the Masters. “If Augusta National tells me I can’t go, being a past champion, then I don’t want to be there anyway,” he said. Is there any chance Watson, a past champion, doesn’t receive an invitation next April?

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Sens: Maybe I’m being naive, but I don’t see the Masters disinviting past champs. More likely that anyone who’s won a green jacket keeps coming back, with other invites being sorted out by World Ranking points, which is a whole other can o’ worms to be opened soon enough.

Colgan: I’m shocked a number of Masters champs made the jump without assurances from Augusta National that their invite would remain intact, but if a few more go to LIV, they may leave Augusta no choice.

Zak: I’m shocked Bubba even brought it up. I highly doubt any of the majors dis-invite people we would already expect to be qualified. It opens them all up to criticism, for better or worse, and even litigation potentially. No one wants that.

4. The LIV news wasn’t over there! On Friday, Greg Norman announced that players would be allowed to compete in shorts, upending a longstanding rule to the contrary. Is this a step forward for tournament golf, or much ado about nothing?

Sens: Egad! I’m scandalized! Nah. Seems very much on-brand and hard to argue with. Most golf dress codes are silly anyway. No shirt, no shoes, no service should be the extent of it. Not that I’m itching to see pasty legs on a golf broadcast, but it doesn’t really matter a lick to me one way or the other.

Colgan: It always struck me as strange that pants were required, especially when I realized Average Joes wore them to feel more professional during “important rounds” — like my buddy on Pinehurst No. 2 … in 115-degree heat. Shorts are a beautiful thing, even if their professional liberation is mostly trivial.

Zak: The pants vs. shorts rule has been one of the most difficult things to explain to non-golf fans in my entire career. It made no sense. It’s a good example of how a little speedboat like LIV can make quick turns for its benefit and the massive cruise ship that is the PGA Tour has struggled to do so. [It’s also pretty meaningless in scope].

5. And we had a Tiger Woods spotting! In the middle of the week, cameras caught Woods cheering on Serena Williams in her final bid at the U.S. Open. Later, the 15-time major champ tweeted in support of Williams, his close friend of many years. All this GOAT-ness has us thinking: which pro athlete is Tiger’s best cross-sport comparison?

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Sens: Running through some possibilities in my head here. Ali? Too outspoken. Federer? Too gentle a persona. For ruthless dominance, and for staying out of politics even as many hoped they would have more to say, Michael Jordan fits best. But you also have to go to the likes of Arthur Ashe and Serena Williams for the broader context of a Black athlete soaring in a lily-white individual sport. That’s my attempt at a composite sketch.

Colgan: Jordan is probably the best answer, both for his dominance and overall ability as much as his transcendentalism and racial significance. Ashe and Williams are good for that reason, as are Jack Johnson and Jesse Owens. From the perspective of pure talent, Tiger’s best comparison is probably Lawrence Taylor or Michael Phelps — men who redefined the conventional understanding of a sport with their sheer athletic ability and desire for greatness.

Zak: Jordan feels most correct because of the timeline, the level of worldly fame, the Nike and Gatorade deals, etc. Also for their absolutely cutthroat nature. You could take any number of the memeable reactions from The Last Dance and find a similar story from those around Tiger Woods. 

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The post ‘He’s gone dark’: Davis Love III says Phil Mickelson won’t answer friends’ calls appeared first on Golf.

The post ‘He’s gone dark’: Davis Love III says Phil Mickelson won’t answer friends’ calls appeared first on Golf.

The past 15 months have been a whirlwind for Phil Mickelson.

The stretch started with Lefty on top of the golf world. At the age of 50, he won the PGA Championship at Kiawah — his sixth major title — and was, quite literally, swarmed by the masses as they celebrated his triumph.

Later in the summer, Mickelson dominated on the PGA Tour Champions circuit. He won four times in six starts, including the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship, signifying the start of another impressive chapter in his career.

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11 surprises from Phil Mickelson, other LIV players' lawsuit against the PGA Tour

By: Sean Zak

But as the calendar flipped to 2022, things became turbulent in Lefty World. Rumors began swirling with Mickelson’s name attached to the mysterious Saudi Golf League. In a February interview, he ripped the PGA Tour for their “obnoxious greed,” giving more credence to the claims he would defect from the establishment tour.

Then, the bombshell dropped. In an excerpt for his unauthorized biography on Mickelson, Alan Shipnuck published some unsavory comments from the six-time major winner, revealing his true intentions in his dealings with the Saudis.

“They’re scary motherf—— to get involved with,” he said. “We know they killed [Washington Post reporter and U.S. resident Jamal] Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights. They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates. They’ve been able to get by with manipulative, coercive, strong-arm tactics because we, the players, had no recourse. As nice a guy as [PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan] comes across as, unless you have leverage, he won’t do what’s right. And the Saudi money has finally given us that leverage.”

With the release of those comments, Mickelson burned bridges with both sides of the aisle. Shortly after the story ran, Mickelson issued a statement on social media and withdrew from the public eye.

Mickelson has since started competing again, mostly in LIV Golf events. But the Mickelson we see now is a different Mickelson than the one golf fans came to know over his 30-year pro career.

Gone are the sponsors that have become synonymous with his name — KPMG, Callaway, Workday. Instead, he wears monochromatic, dark ensembles. His press appearances are far less animated, too, and his once-lively Twitter account has gone dark.

Those aren’t the only ways in which Mickelson is different these days, either. According to Davis Love III, Lefty is a “troubled soul” — and he isn’t keen on accepting help from some of his closest friends in golf.

“He’s had a lot of friends — like me — trying very hard to try to help him,” Love III said on the Fire Drill podcast. “Not about LIV and not about golf, but about Phil Mickelson. Right now, it’s tragic that none of us can get him to take a phone call. You’ve heard Fred [Couples’] quotes. He’s gone dark.”

Additionally, Mickelson has recently joined with 10 other ex-Tour pros in filing an anti-trust suit against the PGA Tour.

“He always has challenged the rules and regulations of the PGA Tour,” Love III said. “But the PGA Tour is what made Phil Mickelson famous. … The system worked for him and made him famous and put him in the Hall of Fame.”

But despite much effort by some of his closest allies from the Tour, Mickelson has refused to take any advice on how to get things back on the right track.

“One of his really good friends said, ‘Look, we’ve tried as hard as we can,'” Love said. “Eventually, we have to move on.”

You can listen to the entire podcast here.

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The post 11 surprises from Phil Mickelson, other LIV players’ lawsuit against the PGA Tour appeared first on Golf.

The post 11 surprises from Phil Mickelson, other LIV players’ lawsuit against the PGA Tour appeared first on Golf.

Much of the messaging between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour has been veiled to date, but not anymore. The war for men’s professional golf has officially reached the court room, with Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau and nine others filing a lawsuit against the PGA Tour for anticompetitive practices and restraint of trade. 

The truth is, we always knew it would get here. We just didn’t know when. Technically, the first court room appearance for LIV golfers this year took place just weeks ago when Ian Poulter and three others earned their way into the Scottish Open via a U.K. claims court. This lawsuit, however, is much meatier.

The complaint is 105 pages and outlines many transgressions the plaintiffs have with the PGA Tour’s regulations and suspensions handed out this year. Since we know you don’t have the time to read it all, we’ve pored through it and outlined a number of surprises — some bigger than others — that will help you better understand what is at stake. 

1. Not all LIV players are involved

Many players have competed in LIV Golf events and been suspended or made ineligible by the Tour, but only 11 — the LIV 11, some have been calling them — have filed this lawsuit. Mickelson and DeChambeau are joined by Poulter, Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford, Matt Jones, Abe Ancer, Carlos Ortiz, Pat Perez, Jason Kokrak and Peter Uihlein. 

No Dustin Johnson, no Brooks Koepka, no Sergio Garcia or Lee Westwood or Henrik Stenson. There’s an interesting partition there. Some players resigned their Tour memberships, like Johnson, Garcia and Westwood. Others may not have been interested in suing at this juncture. Each player’s involvement level with LIV Golf has been different to this point, as you can read about below, incurring different levels of suspension and punishment to this point. 

2. Phil Mickelson was indeed suspended

It wasn’t clear in early March if Phil Mickelson had been suspended by the PGA Tour. Commissioner Jay Monahan spoke at the Players Championship about Mickelson’s incendiary comments — Mickelson told journalist Alan Shipnuck he was aiming for leverage against the PGA Tour — but did not acknowledge if the Tour had suspended Mickelson. Wednesday, we learned he was … eventually. 

According to the complaint, Mickelson was suspended on March 22, with the potential to apply for reinstatement two months later on May 22. The reasoning, according to the documents, was for recruiting players to join the LIV series. Mickelson then applied for reinstatement on June 20. He was denied, the Tour said, because he had competed in the LIV Golf London event. Then, on July 23, the Tour extended Mickelson’s suspension again after he competed in the LIV Golf London event. At that point, according to the complaint, Mickelson would not be allowed to apply for reinstatement until March 31, 2024. He had rung up quite the bill of wrongdoings, per the PGA Tour, and that was before be played in last week’s LIV event at Trump Bedminster. 

3. The suit was filed in … Northern California?

The PGA Tour is headquartered in Florida, which is also the state of residence for many plaintiffs in the lawsuit, yet the suit was filed in the Northern California district. Why? The complaint explains. 

For starters, the PGA Tour conducts more events in California (six) than in any other state. The lawsuit alleges that the plaintiffs were first issued an anticompetitive threat in Southern California in 2020 (think: the 2020 Farmers Insurance Open, where a players’ meeting took place). Then, at the 2022 Genesis Invitational, again, more alleged threats took place, also in California. In short, many discussions and events in the timeline of LIV Golf have occurred in the Golden State, likely making it the most advantageous district to file within.

4. Bryson had to back track

Remember when Bryson DeChambeau released a statement on Feb. 20? It said, “As long as the best players in the world are playing on the PGA Tour, so will I.” According to the court documents, by that point DeChambeau had already signed with LIV Golf. And he wasn’t alone. 

According to the lawsuit, DeChambeau was “forced to publicly profess loyalty to the PGA Tour.” How, exactly? That will be something we look forward to learning in further proceedings. Notably, DeChambeau was also allegedly sanctioned by the PGA Tour for “talking to other Tour members about the positive experience he had had with LIV Golf.”

5. All quotes matter! 

For golf fans who have criticized Monahan for not speaking up enough, or acting bluntly enough, just know that anything he has said, or will say, is considered fodder for this lawsuit. Look no further than quotes from Rory McIlroy in 2019, long before some of the plaintiffs were well known players, which state that the European Tour is a “stepping stone” to the PGA Tour. Those words are included in an argument for the PGA Tour’s dominance in the market. The same goes for quotes from Paul McGinley from earlier this year, simply in response to Mickelson’s comments. And quotes from Mickelson on the Player Impact Program funds. And from Joel Dahmen and Jason Kokrak and Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth…

All quotes matter, folks! Davis Love III’s impassioned explanation of a boycott, which was delivered just this week, was also cited in the complaint. Of all the quotes that matter, the words Monahan has delivered in players meetings at Torrey Pines or the Honda Classic or the Genesis Invitational over the last three years will be used frequently by the LIV 11’s legal representation.

6. Augusta National’s role?

Just because this lawsuit is LIV golfers vs. PGA Tour, Inc., doesn’t mean information about other governing bodies will be held confidential. In fact, quite the opposite. Augusta National, ever private in its dealings, was allegedly involved in various ways.

According to the complaint, Augusta National had representatives present at an “emergency meeting” of the PGA Tour Advisory Council, which took place directly following the initial announcement of LIV Golf’s first field. The filing alleges that Fred Ridley himself “personally instructed a number of participants in the 2022 Masters not to play in the LIV Golf Invitational Series.” The suit also claims that Ridley declined a request from Greg Norman to meet to discuss the LIV business model. (For what it’s worth, Ridley said at the 2022 Masters that Augusta National “did not disinvite” Mickelson from this year’s tournament.)

7. ‘Unlawful’ alliance  

The PGA Tour may be the defendant, but the entire ecosystem of men’s pro golf is included in the complaint, mainly out of alleged coercion. The PGA Tour’s “strategic alliance” with the DP World Tour is repeatedly labeled “unlawful” in the lawsuit, and is referenced as a “group boycott” of the plaintiffs and their right to “practice their profession.” 

Included in the complaint is reference to a July 2021 meeting in Malta, where DP World Tour CEO Keith Pelley met with sponsors of LIV Golf. A detailed breakdown of the meeting, which has been reported on by Bunkered, states that Pelley saw the biggest hurdle to a “new entrant” entering the pro golf ecosystem was the “mighty power” of the PGA Tour and its relationship with the DP World Tour. 

8. The Tour’s previous decade of performance will be analyzed

The plaintiffs seem keen to compare their earning power via the PGA Tour to professional athletes in other sports. For instance, the average salary increases of NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL players from 2014-2019 are all cited within the lawsuit. For the NFL, that’s 15%, a greater increase than any other major pro sport. For the plaintiffs like Mickelson, the perceived salary increases are the Tour’s average purse increases, which increased by 2.5% per year, on average. 

Much the same is being said for the the PGA Tour’s popularity and TV ratings. Cited in the suit is the following: 

“Out of 27 PGA Tour tournaments for which data are available, 16 tournaments (almost 60 percent) had viewership in 2019 that was below the five-year average for that tournament.” How is this data being used? To argue that the Tour’s product of broadcasting events had grown “stale.” Remember how “all quotes matter,” from above? Rickie Fowler’s comments on the Tour’s product inspiring more opportunity, which he made at the PGA Championship in May, are also cited in the suit.

9. We’re going to learn that no one plays fair

There have been many moves made by the PGA Tour, alleged by the plaintiffs in the case, that make it seem like a bully. The suit calls moves by the PGA Tour “a bearhug,” implying that it threatened the European Tour in various ways to usher in the strategic alliance. The suits also claims that the PGA Tour’s vast relationships with other governing bodies were used to keep LIV Golf from launching. There are allegations that the Tour threatened to withhold defecting members’ retirement pensions.

How true are all these claims? It remains to be seen. But LIV is airing all of them out in the open. If some or all of them are true, it will show that the PGA Tour was not playing fair with just about anything it could leverage against the upstart league. If some of the more egregious claims are proved untrue, it will look like the plaintiffs were playing an unfair game in the courtroom. 

10. The ‘ecosystem’ can mean many things

A major point of disagreement among the many parties in this war for pro golf is the ecosystem. That word is printed 30 different times in the lawsuit. What it’s referring to is the pro golf world, as it existed in, say, June 2019. The PGA Tour, the Korn Ferry Tour, the DP World Tour, the Asian Tour, PGA Tour Canada, etc. They all make up the ecosystem. 

PGA Tour and DP World Tour executives have long claimed that they would have been welcoming to LIV Golf or the Premier Golf League, so long as they work within the current ecosystem. 

But the ecosystem is not just the tours. The ecosystem, as defined by the plaintiffs, includes sponsors, media organizations, financiers, coaches, agents, etc. The plaintiffs argue that the various pressures of the PGA Tour against LIV Golf extended throughout the ecosystem, thus creating an inhospitable one to a new entrant. See: “group boycott” referenced above. One example included is the R&A revoking the Open Championship exemption given to the Asian Tour Order of Merit winner because the tour had accepted sponsorship from LIV Golf Investments.

11. A reminder: This is just the beginning

When plaintiff(s) file lawsuits against a defendant(s), the initial complaint is just the initial complaint. It is littered with alleged information, plenty of which is surely accurate but not necessarily all of it. The legal process will take a long time, with built-in time for responses, discovery, etc. The PGA Tour will respond. It already did, in a memo to players Wednesday afternoon. It will respond legally, too, with plenty of information of its own. Like Norman said in one of his scathing letters, “Commissioner — this is just the beginning. It is certainly not the end.”

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The post John Daly says he ‘begged’ Greg Norman for LIV Golf spot appeared first on Golf.

The post John Daly says he ‘begged’ Greg Norman for LIV Golf spot appeared first on Golf.

While the newest mulleted-major champion is not revealing his LIV Golf intentions publicly, the original is showing his cards in regards to the Saudi-backed league.

Only it doesn’t look like we’ll see him tee it up on the LIV anytime soon.

Two-time major winner John Daly revealed in an interview with Piers Morgan that he “begged” LIV Golf Commissioner Greg Norman for a spot in the upstart tour.

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LIVing at the top: New list of highest-paid golfers reveals big changes

By: Jack Hirsh

“You know, we work really hard,” Daly told Morgan on Piers Morgan Uncensored. “I play with Brian Harman in a practice round and some other guys in the practice rounds of the British Open, and it’s like we play pro-ams. We get it, OK? That’s what is the backbone of a lot of our tournaments. But, Brian Harman says, ‘Give us a box of chocolates for the effort.’

“We make tent visits. We do this, we do that. I play two-to-three pro-ams every week on the Champions Tour, and you know we don’t play for a lot of money on the Champions Tour. So, I almost feel like, ‘OK, I’m not getting a lot out of this. What are we doing?'”

Daly said the situation is much different on the LIV Tour.

“It’s a big party. They play for a lot of money, which these guys that are on that tour deserve that money,” Daly said. “I think there’s a lot of others guys that deserve that money, especially this old man.”

When Morgan asked Daly about the hypocrisy and morality in playing on the LIV Tour, whose Saudi backers are often tied to human rights violations, Daly deflected.

“Piers, let’s not talk about that. [The PGA Tour’s sponsors] don’t want to be mentioned in that,” Daly said. “The politics is so stupid.”

Unfortunately for Daly — and everyone who wants to see John Daly shooting 80 to win nearly a million dollars instead of Pat Perez — Norman seems to have squashed that idea.

“Greg says he’s not doing any more and I’m too old,” Daly said.

But Daly did have another way he could contribute.

“Let me go into entertainment and get all my friends to do the concerts and stuff,” Daly said.

He could take it one step further and have Daly actually perform the concerts himself.

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The post LIVing at the top: New list of highest-paid golfers reveals big changes appeared first on Golf.

The post LIVing at the top: New list of highest-paid golfers reveals big changes appeared first on Golf.

Phil Mickelson may be a combined 42-over-par since joining LIV Golf, but he’s finally No. 1 in something.

According to a new ranking from Forbes of the world’s highest-paid golfers, Mickelson is the highest-paid golfer in the world over the past 12 months, raking in $138 million both on and off the course.

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LIV gets political, world's richest golfers, Tony Time again | Monday Finish

By: Dylan Dethier

Much of the $102 million in on-course earnings owing in large part to his reportedly massive contract with LIV Golf. In fact, 7 of the top-10 on the list are LIV defectors.

Perhaps more notable than Tiger Woods, the guy basically responsible for professional golfers being able to make millions of dollars in the first place, being bumped all the way down to fifth, is World No. 123 Charl Schwartzel coming in at No. 10!

Joining Woods as the only PGA Tour loyalists to make the list are Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth. Of course the Tour potentially hopes to change this for next year with increased purses and bonus pool money announced in its new schedule.

Another item to note is each LIV golfer has vastly more on course earnings than endorsements while the opposite is true for Woods, McIlroy and Spieth.

Here’s the full Top-10:

No. 1 Phil Mickelson: $138 million ($102 million on-course/$36 million off-course)
No. 2 Dustin Johnson: $97 million ($68 million/$29 million)
No. 3 Bryson DeChambeau: $86 million ($66 million/$20 million)
No. 4 Brooks Koepka: $69 million ($53 million/$16 million)
No. 5 Tiger Woods: $68 million ($43,500/$68 million)
No. 6 Rory McIlroy: $43 million ($9 million/$34 million)
No. 7 Sergio Garcia: $42 million ($35 million/$7 million)
No. 8 Jordan Spieth: $39 million ($8 million/$31 million)
No. 9 Patrick Reed: $37 million ($34 million/$3 million)
No. 10 Charl Schwartzel: $34 million ($30 million/$4 million)

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The post ‘They can kiss my a–‘: NFL legend slams LIV event at Trump Bedminster over 9/11 victims’ concerns appeared first on Golf.

The post ‘They can kiss my a–‘: NFL legend slams LIV event at Trump Bedminster over 9/11 victims’ concerns appeared first on Golf.

This week’s LIV Golf event at Trump Bedminster in New Jersey has drawn heavy criticism given the course’s close proximity to the site of the September 11th terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.

While LIV Golf, which is financed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, has previously been criticized over Saudi Arabia’s history of human rights violations, the specifics of these protests are slightly different.

As GOLF’s Alan Bastable reported earlier this week, groups representing 9/11 victims and their families are livid over the tournament at Trump Bedminster due to Saudi Arabia’s ties to the 9/11 attacks (Osama Bin Laden and 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi citizens, though the Saudi government has repeatedly denied its involvement in the attacks — a finding that was not disputed by the 9/11 Commission.)

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When LIV Golf and Trump converge, sports and politics are inextricable

By: Alan Bastable

Former NFL quarterback, TV analyst and New York sports radio icon Boomer Esiason vociferously echoed the “outrage” he and others feel about the event and LIV Golf in general on Thursday.

Speaking on his radio show, Boomer and Gio on WFAN, Esiason unloaded on former president Donald Trump, whose club is hosting this week’s event, and who has recently voiced strong support for the LIV Golf League.

“The former president’s hosting this garbage over there and these guys are accepting this money. It’s an insult to all the people that died on 9/11 and how their families were affected,” a visibly animated Esiason said on Thursday. “But it’s also an insult to all the people that have died since 9/11 because of all the toxic carcinogens that they basically ingested while they were trying to clean this place up to make it look like what it looks like now. And we live in the shadow of it. And when you go down there you’re affected by it, especially if you were personally affected by it. And that’s why there is so much outrage around this.”

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'My wife loved it': Bubba Watson explains why he's joining LIV Golf, leaving PGA Tour

By: Kevin Cunningham

But he didn’t reserve his criticism for Trump alone, expressing his disgust for the pro golfers who took huge financial payouts to join LIV and play in the tournament, despite the many lives destroyed by the attacks and the aftermath over the last 21 years.

“And these guys are over there playing music, making hundreds of millions of dollars from the Saudi Arabian government,” Esiason said. “That’s what we’re doing?”

Esiason had one final message directed toward all involved with the tournament, be it LIV Golf, the pro golfers’ playing in the Bedminster event, or the former president: “They can kiss my a–. I’m not watching, and I don’t care.”

You can watch a clip of Esiason’s comments on the Boomer and Gio show below.

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