Fallen golf star Phil Mickelson has refused to answer questions on his willingness to take vast sums of money from Saudi Arabia, despite its record of human rights abuses, to play in its lucrative rebel tour, which is now tearing the sport apart.
Until this week Mickelson, the one-time darling of American golf who has won six major championships and earned a fortune worth hundreds of millions of dollars by playing on the PGA Tour, had been in exile for months since his involvement with the Saudis was revealed.
On the eve of the tour’s debut competition at Centurion Club in St Albans, Mickelson squirmed his way through his first press conference since February, also refusing to say whether or not he has been banned from the PGA Tour after his defection to the Saudi Public Investment Fund-backed LIV Golf.
The 51-year-old Californian had previously described the Saudis as ‘scary motherf***ers’ and said he was well aware of the nation’s ‘horrible record on human rights’ – including the murder of Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi – in an interview with the author of a new unauthorised biography.
Yet Mickelson is reportedly being paid $200million (£160m) to compete at LIV Golf events, starting this week in England.
Today he declined to confirm if he is receiving the enormous fee, but his answer indicated the reported sum may be accurate. ‘I feel that contract agreements should be private,’ Mickelson said. ‘Doesn’t seem to be the case, but it should be.’
In his first appearance in front of the media in months, Mickelson was wearing a cap featuring his own personal logo, having been dropped by long-term sponsor KPMG due to the Saudi furore. In contrast to his previously long-term squeaky clean public image, Mickelson was also unshaven.
Asked about Saudi Arabia’s record of human rights abuses, which include a mass public execution of 81 people in March this year, Mickelson added: ‘I don’t condone human rights violations at all. Nobody here does.
Phil Mickelson has endured a difficult press conference after defecting to the LIV Golf tour
Mickelson squirmed and dodged questions as he appeared at the Saudi-backed golf event
Mickelson previously called the Saudis ‘scary motherf***ers’ but has now taken their money
‘I’m aware of what has happened with Jamal Khashoggi and it’s terrible. I have also seen the good that the game of golf has done throughout history and I believe LIV Golf is going to do a lot of good for the game as well.
‘I don’t condone human rights violations. I don’t know how I can be more clear.
‘I understand that many people have strong opinions and may disagree with this decision. I can empathise with that.
‘But at this time this is an opportunity that gives me a chance to have the most balance in my life going forward and I think it’s going to do a lot of good for the game.’
As well as infamously calling the Saudis ‘scary mother f***ers’, Mickelson had previously insisted to his unauthorised biographer Alan Shipnuck that working with the Saudis was a ‘once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates’ while also accusing the Tour of ‘obnoxious greed’.
The LIV Golf series is handing out £200m in prize money to those golfers it can lure from the traditional golf tours, and the seven regular-season tournaments will have total prize pots of £20m, which are the richest in professional golf.
Another £24m bonus will be shared by the top three players cumulatively from those events, while the season-ending team match-play championship has another £40m up for grabs.
Two of the events are being held at golf courses owned by Donald Trump.
The six-time major champion is reportedly being paid £160m to compete at LIV Golf events
He has acknowledged the murder of Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi (pictured) by the Saudis and that the Saudi regime has a ‘horrible record on human rights’, but is still playing
But LIV’s organisers, fronted by Australian former world No 1 Greg Norman, are also tempting defections of the game’s biggest stars with signing-on bonuses worth eyewatering sums.
As well as Mickelson, former world No 1 Dustin Johnson has joined LIV for a fee of over £100m, with fellow American star Bryson DeChambeau now set to join the rebels for a similar sum. Tiger Woods has reportedly rejected an offer worth £800m to join LIV.
Incredibly, Norman confirmed last month that the Saudis have committed to spending at least $2billion (£.1.6bn) to launch LIV Golf.
Johnson announced he had resigned his membership of the PGA Tour at an awkward press conference on Tuesday but today Mickelson refused to comment on whether or not he has been given a ban by the PGA Tour after teaming up with the Saudis.
Despite his scheming against the PGA Tour, he also insisted he had earned his lifetime membership and should not be forced to give it up.
‘I’ve been a part of the tour for over 30 years and I’ve had a lot of incredible memories and experiences, tournaments that I’ve won and lost,’ he said.
‘I’ve gained a lot, received a lot and I’m grateful for everything the tour has done for me. I’ve also worked hard to contribute and build and add value to the tour in my time there.
‘I worked hard to get a lifetime exemption. I don’t want to give that up. I don’t feel I should have to. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’ve earned that and I don’t plan on just giving it up.
‘I’ve really enjoyed my time on the PGA Tour. I’m had some incredible experiences, great memories and I have a lot of strong opinions that it should and could be a lot better.
‘One mistake I’ve made is voicing them publicly. I will make an effort to keep those conversations behind closed doors moving forward.’
It has been reported that fellow major winners Sergio Garcia, Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel, who have all signed up to Norman’s fledgling circuit, have also terminated their PGA Tour membership.
Asked if he had done the same, Mickelson said: ‘I saw that and I think they’re making the decision that’s best for them personally.
‘I respect that. As a lifetime member I’m not required to play 15 events. I don’t have to play any. I can play one. So I don’t see a reason for me to give that up.’
The likes of Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods have all committed themselves to the PGA Tour, but Ian Poulter believes top players may change their minds in future.
Poulter, the 46-year-old Englishman who is famous for his outstanding record playing for Europe in the Ryder Cup – the biennial match against the United States that is golf’s biggest event, is another one of the defectors to LIV.
He has been joined by fellow European Ryder Cup stars Lee Westwood, Graeme McDowell, Garcia and Martin Kaymer
‘I definitely see other top players watching this week and wanting to be a part of it,’ Poulter said.
‘I feel there’s a huge investment coming into the game of golf and I think other players will want to come and see what it’s all about.’
Mickelson insisted he ‘doesn’t condone’ human rights violations after receiving fierce criticism
Mickelson has also this week admitted his gambling had become ‘reckless and embarrassing’.
While he was in exile, a new book claimed Mickelson sustained gambling losses of more than £32.4m between 2010 and 2014.
Mickelson said: ‘My gambling got to a point of being reckless and embarrassing. I had to address it. I’ve been addressing it for years. And for hundreds of hours of therapy. I feel good where I’m at. My family and I have been financially secure for some time.
‘Gambling has been part of my life ever since I can remember. But about a decade ago is when I would say it became reckless.
‘It’s embarrassing. I don’t like that people know. The fact is I’ve been dealing with it for some time. Amy (his wife) has been very supportive of it and with me and the process. We’re at a place after many years where I feel comfortable with where that is.
‘It isn’t a threat to me or my financial security. It was just a number of poor decisions.’
Phil Mickelson has detailed about his previous ‘reckless and embarrassing’ gambling addiction
Mickelson (with wife Amy) insists that he and his family have been and are financially secure
The Saudi golf tour has divided the sport with its staggering £180m prize pot and star-studded roster including Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson, but why the controversy? What has Jessie J got to do with it… and why is it teeing off in St Albans?
By Luke Augustus
After all the controversy surrounding it, the inaugural event of the LIV Golf Invitational Series will finally take place on Thursday.
The Centurion Club in St Albans is the setting for golf’s most divisive talking point, where the likes of former world No 1 Dustin Johnson and European Ryder Cup heroes like Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood will be taking part.
Sportsmail provides a lowdown on golf’s new rebel tour and how and why it’s caused such friction within the sport.
The controversial LIV Golf Invitational Series begins on Thursday at the Centurion Club
What’s the background to the tour?
You can go back to 1994 from when discussions about a new breakaway golf tour were first declared. That was by Greg Norman (more on him to come) with the former world No 1 proposing his own World Golf Tour – a lucrative, eight-event series that would showcase the game’s best players.
However, that idea never came to fruition. Fast-forward 25 years and the current framework for the now LIV Golf Invitational Series had begun.
In January 2020, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan warned that any player who joined a rival tour would face a suspension and possibly a lifetime one.
‘If the Team Golf Concept [one of the other names suggested for a breakaway series at the time] or another iteration of this structure becomes a reality in 2022 or at any time before or after, our members will have to decide whether they want to continue to be a member of the PGA Tour or play on a new series,’ he wrote in a statement.
Monahan’s foresight was correct as June 9, 2022 sees the start of LIV Golf Invitational Series.
The PGA and DP World Tours – the latter is the rebranded European Tour, now title sponsored by DP World – have rejected requests from players to compete at Centurion Club in St Albans on Thursday and golfers who do feature could face bans.
Greg Norman has finally got his wish of a breakaway league – 28 years after first planning one
The controversies?
Let’s address the elephant in the room. The reason why so many are against it is because of who is backing the £1.6billion rebel league. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the majority owners of Newcastle United, have links to their government and have been accused of sportswashing. On March 12, 81 men were executed in Saudi Arabia – with Amnesty International declaring it signalled an ‘appalling escalation in Saudi Arabia’s use of the death penalty’.
Norman, who is now the CEO of LIV Golf Invitational Series, has defended those accusations insisting that Saudi Arabia is ‘changing their culture within their country’ in May. He also declared: ‘I do not answer to Saudi Arabia. I do not answer to their government or MBS (Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia)’.
Phil Mickelson (another who we will profile in a bit more detail lower down) had to apologise for comments he made about the breakaway series in February. The 51-year-old American, who has won six major championships and is one of the most successful, wealthy and influential golfers of his generation, described the Saudis as ‘scary motherf*****s’ and said he was well aware of Saudi Arabia’s ‘horrible record on human rights’ – including the murder of Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi – in an interview with the author of a forthcoming biography.
Yet he added that working with the Saudis was a ‘once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates’ by creating a new series of tournaments with a different format.
So, who has signed up?
Johnson is the biggest and most surprising name to have signed up so far. The former world No 1 had pledged his loyalty to the PGA Tour in February but clearly enough money was thrown his way to make switching allegiance worthwhile.
Johnson, who announced that he has resigned from the PGA Tour on Tuesday, is expected to have been offered around £100million to sign up – a figure Bryson DeChambeau rejected, as revealed by Sportsmail.
On Monday it was announced that Mickelson would be joining Johnson as part of the rebel league. The American hasn’t been seen on the PGA Tour since late January. His comments in February (see above) provoked a huge backlash and Mickelson apologised amid considerable criticism. He disappeared from public view and missed both the Masters in April and the defence of his title at the US PGA Championship last month.
However, Mickelson will join a 48-man field that also includes two-time major winner Johnson and European Ryder Cup stars such as Garcia, Westwood, Ian Poulter, Graeme McDowell and Martin Kaymer.
Overall the field includes seven major champions with a combined 14 major titles, as well as three former world No 1 ranked players (Westwood, Kaymer and Johnson) and 27 of the top 150 golfers in the world.
American star Dustin Johnson announced he has resigned from the PGA Tour and sparked an angry response online for his reasoning at joining the Saudi Arabia-backed competition
Graeme McDowell has joined Johnson and Mickelson in playing the LIV Golf Invitational Series
Who has rejected it?
Take your pick of star names by looking at who remains on the PGA and DP World Tours. As mentioned above, DeChambeau has rejected the advances of the Saudi-backed money to remain on the PGA Tour.
Rory McIlroy has been a vocal critic and speaking about the field for Thursday’s event he didn’t pull any punches.
‘I certainly don’t think the field is anything to jump up and down about,’ the four-time major winner said last week.
‘Look at the field this week [at the Memorial Tournament]. Look at the field next week in Canada. They are proper golf tournaments.
‘I have some very close friends that are playing in this event and I certainly wouldn’t want to stand in their way for them to do what they feel is right for themselves.
‘It’s certainly not something I would do personally. But I certainly understand why some of the guys have gone.’
Rory McIlroy has been a big critic and feels the field is nothing to ‘jump up and down about’
What about Tiger Woods?
On Monday, Norman revealed that 15-time major winner Tiger Woods had turned down a figure approaching $1billion (£800m) to join the Saudi golf revolution.
Underlining the seemingly limitless wealth the Saudis are prepared to pour into golf, Norman revealed negotiations with Tiger’s representatives.
‘Woods turned down a deal that was mind-blowingly enormous; we’re talking about high nine digits,’ he claimed.
Tiger Woods rejected a reported £800m offer to join the lucrative but rebel Saudi-backed tour
OK, so now to the golf. What’s the format?
There will be eight LIV Golf events this year – with the first seven a regular season where players will compete as individuals and teams for both points and prize money. At the end of those seven events, an Individual Champion will be crowned based on points accumulated throughout the season. The eighth and final event will be the season-ending Team Championship match play event.
The competitions are to be played over 54 holes across three days rather than the standard 72 in four, with groups teeing off simultaneously on different holes in a ‘shotgun’ start. The name LIV is Roman numerals for 54.
The tournaments will all be traditional stroke play, with whoever shoots the lowest score winning the tournament. There will be no cut from the event either – ensuring that no golfer goes home early too.
The player with the most ranking points after the seven events will be named the Individual Champion.
For the team events, it’s a bit more nuanced. Over the first two rounds, the best two stroke play scores will count for each team. For the third and final round, the best three scores will count, with the lowest overall team score after 54 holes being named the team winner.
The Team Championship will be the eighth and final event of the season. This will be a seeded four-day, four-round, match play knock-out.
Who decides the teams?
The LIV Golf Invitational Series will feature 12 teams of four players each. Since each event will be made up of a different field, teams will be decided via a draft the week of each event. Each team will have a LIV appointed team captain who will select their three open team positions via a snake draft format.
To differentiate it further, each team will have unique logos, colors, and names.
Let’s talk figures, how much money will players earn?
The first seven events all have a prize purse of £20.2m, with £16m of that being spread across the 48-man field.
The remaining £4.2m difference will be shared between the between the top three teams at the end of each week – with £2.4m to the winners, £1.2m to second and £600,000 to third.
Every player is guaranteed at least £96,000 just for completing 54 holes. That figure is for whoever comes last (or 48th) in the field.
The individual winner will make £3.2m – £1m more than Scottie Scheffler for his victory at the Masters and Justin Thomas secured for his PGA Championship earlier this year.
An Individual Champion will be crowned at the end of those events, with a £24m fund given to the the top three players of the season, on the basis they compete in at least four of the tournaments.
For the season finale in Miami, the prize pot doubles with £40.4m allocated between each of the 12 four-man teams. Each player receives a 25 per cent cut of team earnings, with £12.8m awarded to the winning team and £800,000 for the team finishing 12th (or last).
Tell me about the Centurion Club then?
Opened in 2013, the Centurion Club golf course is 7,100 yards long in total. Johnson, Mickelson and Co will be tested by the 80 bunkers and will also have to contend with four major water features.
It has not been disclosed why St Albans was the venue of choice to launch the brand new tour. It is, however, a very exclusive and expensive club – its top-tier ‘Senate’ membership starts at £60,000 – and having only opened in 2013 it is not part of UK golfing tradition. All of which allies rather well with the LIV offering.
The Centurion Club in St Albans is the host venue for the opening LIV Golf tournament
Where are future events taking place this year?
After St Albans, the league heads to Pumpkin Ridge GC – Portland, USA (June 30-July 2), Trump National Golf Club – Bedminster, USA (July 29-31), The Oaks – Boston, USA (September 2-4), Rich Harvest Farms – Chicago, USA (September 16-18), Stonehill Golf Club – Bangkok, Thailand (October 7-9), Royal Greens Golf Club – Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (October 14-16) and then Trump National Doral – Miami, USA (October 27-30).
How does the calendar for 2023 and beyond look?
Next year, the tour plans to expand to 10 events and then become a 14-event league from 2024. However, dates and locations for either haven’t been confirmed as of yet.
Anything else to note?
As ever is the increasing case with sporting events (see the Champions League final) there will be live music performed around the Centurion Club.
It was announced on Monday that LIV Golf will stage a three-night concert at the Centurion Club including stars James Bay, Melanie C (DJ Set), Jessie J, Craig David, James Morrison and John Newman.
Describing it as ‘Apres Golf’ it will be a nightly free concert.
Jessie J’s inclusion hasn’t been lost by some fans on social media – due to her 2011 hit single ‘Price Tag’.
Her first verse includes the lyrics ‘Seems like everybody’s got a price, I wonder how they sleep at night, When the sale comes first and the truth comes second, Just stop for a minute and smile’ – raising ironic smiles from those who oppose this rebel tour and its paymasters.
Jessie J will be performing as part of free night-time concerts and has a song called Price Tag, whose lyrics (right) have amused those who oppose the Saudi-backed tour
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk