Phil Mickelson spoke to the media after the first round of the Open Championship on Thursday about Tiger Woods’ recent comments on LIV Golf, saying he “respected” Woods’ stance on the Saudi-backed startup golf tour.
The 15-time major champion delivered his most pointed criticism of the upstart league at his Open Championship media press conference, stating that those players who joined LIV Golf had “turned their back on what had allowed them to get to this position.”
“I certainly respect his opinion,” Mickelson responded. “I have a lot of respect for him. I respect his opinion. I think everybody’s going to have strong emotions and opinions about it, and I certainly respect his.”
LIV Golf Players on PGA Tour final: The Open Championship
The final major of the PGA Tour season 2021-22 could be the most prestigious golf tournament. For the first time since 2015, the Open Championship returns to St. Andrews, with 49 of the world’s top 50 players set to compete on the Old Course.
The LIV Tour’s players, including Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed, and Louis Oosthuizen, are competing in The Open since the R&A decided not to prohibit them.
This week, the R&A prioritized The Open’s 150th anniversary over the PGA Tour’s heated rivalry with LIV Golf. They do, however, still give LIV Golf management and participants preferential treatment.
The R&A, a colloquial name for the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, did not invite LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman, a two-time Open champion, to the celebration in St. Andrews. The pre-tournament news conference schedule, as well as the featured pairings for Thursday’s first round, did not include a single LIV player.
Nonetheless, the R&A has invited the 52-year-old golfer to compete in the Open Championship, which he appears to be grateful for and obligated to accept.
“The R&A contacted me a couple weeks ago and said, look, we don’t think it’s a great idea you go, but if you want to, you can,” Mickelson said. “I just didn’t want to make a big deal about it, so I said fine. We both kind of agreed that it would be best if I didn’t.”
Mickelson did not attend the previous week’s 150th Open celebrations, which included the Champions’ Dinner on Tuesday and the Celebrations of Champions on Monday.
Mickelson content about his decision
Mickelson, the winner of six major championships, struggled to maintain his high level of performance after signing a multi-year contract with the Saudi-backed tour for an undisclosed sum in early June. He missed the cut at the US Open and did not finish in the top 25 in either of the first two LIV events, which had only 48 players and 54 holes.
He insisted, however, that joining LIV was the best decision he had ever made, describing LIV events as fun, exciting, and competitive.
“No, not at all,” said Mickelson to reporters when asked if he felt sad being estranged from his peers.
“I couldn’t be more excited and ecstatic with where I’m at. I love the [LIV] events. I get to have competitive golf in my life on a scale that is fun, exciting, different, and lets me play and compete but still do the things outside that I want to do. So, no, I couldn’t be happier, ” he explained.
When inquired about Mickelson’s absence from the dinner, he was unable to hide his annoyance at being pressed on the same issue repeatedly.
He became irritated and snapped. “Let it go, dude. Let it go. That’s three times you’ve asked the same question. I don’t know what to tell you. I couldn’t be happier.”