To my surprise, I found a bunker tip from Mickelson that’s simple, yet genius.
Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson will reunite at this week’s PGA Championship, with both set to attend the annual champions’ dinner which takes place on Tuesday.
Woods and Mickelson have undoubtedly had their differences in recent years, having had polarising views on the fallout between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. Woods unsurprisingly remained loyal to the Tour, whilst Mickelson became a trailblazer for the Saudi-backed series in 2022.
The pair have rarely come across each other since, but this week will reunite in a more intimate atmosphere as guests of B rooks Koepka’s champions dinner in Kentucky ahead of the beginning of the 2024 U.S. PGA on Thursday.
The legendary pair have both enjoyed plenty success at the PGA. 15-time major champion Woods has won the The Wanamaker Trophy on four occasions during his career, with his victories coming in 1999, 2000, 2006 and 2007. Mickelson meanwhile has two PGA titles to his name.
His first came in 2005, before he made golfing history with his most recent triumph in 2021. In winning the PGA Championship three years ago, the HyFlyers captain became the oldest major champion in history, seeing off fellow LIV stars Louis Oosthuizen and Koepka at the age of 50 at Kiawah Island.
Just one year later though, Mickelson failed to attend his title defence having entered golfing exile after raising eyebrows by pledging his support to a start-up Saudi golf league now known as LIV Golf. The six-time major winner described the Middle Eastern state as ‘scary’ amid their poor human rights record, but committed support to the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia-backed project in order to ‘gain leverage’ over the PGA Tour.
On the back of the comments, ‘Lefty’ took a step back from public life which led to him missing the chance to defend his PGA crown at Southern Hills one month before his LIV debut. Even in his absence Mickelson proved to be the talk of the tournament heading into the opening round, and Woods had his say on Mickelson’s Saudi comments.
“It’s always disappointing when the defending champion is not here,” the four-time winner said in 2022. “Phil has said some things that I think a lot of us who are committed to the Tour and committed to the legacy of the Tour have pushed back against, and he’s taken some personal time, and we all understand that…
“I have not reached out to him. I have not spoken to him. A lot of it has not to do with I think personal issues. It was our viewpoints of how the Tour should be run and could be run, and what players are playing for and how we are playing for it. I have a completely different stance on, and so no, I have not.”
Mickelson then made a return one year later in 2023, but one man who was then absent from the field was his old-rival Woods. The pair will now finally tee if up together at the second major of the year for the first time since 2020, and will be sat around the same table in honour of 2023 champion Koepka.
This will not be the first time the pair have shared an evening meal and glass of wine or two in recent weeks though. The pair were among the attendees at last month’s champions’ dinner at the Masters, after LIV’s record-breaking signing Jon Rahm played host after winning the green jacket in 2023.
Phil Mickelson is riding towards his post-retirement career. In a golf cart with Brendan Steele on his side. After snubbing broadcasting plans, the 53-year-old posted a clip on his official X (formerly Twitter) handle with his LIV colleague. They appeared to be shooting the first episode of ‘Pros vs. Schmos that the veteran revealed to be his next career plan just days ago.
Lefty joked, “I feel like we’re in the episode of Seinfeld the Bizarro world.” The 53-year-old was referring to the third episode from season 8 of Seinfeld, where George Costanza and Cosmo Kramer meet their doppelgangers but they are the total opposite of each other.
Steele, who most recently won at LIV Golf Adelaide, continues the thread. “Yeah, up is down, down is up. You say ‘goodbye’ when you arrive, and ‘hello’ when you leave.” A little taken aback, Mickelson replied, “What? That’s what I feel is happening.” Well, Mickelson’s goodbye to Golf will be his ‘hello’ to a new career on YouTube.
Phil Mickelson earlier clarified that he would be very much interested in playing 9-hole matches, with insightful commentaries along the way. That response came after one fan floated the idea of Mickelson moving to broadcasting. The 45-time PGA Tour winner replied, “However, just cuz someone CAN do something doesn’t mean they SHOULD do it. Instead of commentating, I’m going to shoot some Pros vs Schmos 9 hole matches. I’ll share insights throughout as well as talk a little smack.”
Ian Poulter was ready to sign up. Lamenting their ruined chances facing each other as Ryder Cup captains, the Englishman wrote, “I’m happy to be the Schmos if you like..” As was Wesley Bryan and his brother George Bryan IV, both of whom played in the Myrtle Beach Classic recently.
Ultimately, it appears, Mickelson will start his journey with his close friend Steele. They both have played practice matches before. And Steele has credited Mickelson for a lot of help in his golf career. The six-time Major winner, though, is sticking to his plans of hanging up his golf clubs as he revealed in a recent interview.
Rory McIlroy looks to one-up Phil Mickelson soon
Lefty first talked about retirement in a chat with Haslinda Amin of Bloomberg. “I’m 53 now. and my career, you know, it’s — if I’m being truthful, it’s on — it’s — it’s — I’m a — it’s towards its end.” The veteran golfer has only been in the top ten twice since last May. At the Masters, Lefty tied for 43rd. The lack of OWGR points has also pushed Mickelson outside of the top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking. The six-time Major winner was 80th last May and now he is 160th.
On top of that, Rory McIlroy has closed the gap on the PGA Tour money list. Phil Mickelson has $96 million in career earnings, standing second right behind Tiger Woods, courtesy of 45 career wins and 536 cuts made. But McIlroy, after his fourth Wells Fargo Championship title, is just $10 million away from Lefty. At 35, the Ulsterman has plenty of time to usurp Mickelson from the second spot. However, per reports, the oldest major winner earned $200 million in guaranteed contract in joining LIV. Both are two-time PGA Championship winners, and both will head toward Valhalla this week to increase their tally.
Rory McIlroy has now won the Wells Fargo Championship four times. But never has it been worth more — at least, financially — than on this occasion.
This year’s edition was a signature event on the Tour schedule, with a $20 million purse and $3.6 million to the winner. That haul takes McIlroy’s Wells Fargo career total to $9,463,076.
With $86.6 million in official career Tour earnings, McIlroy is now $10 million from surpassing Phil Mickelson for second on the all-time list. Tiger Woods is first with $121 million.
Here’s a look at the purse payout in the no-cut event in Charlotte, North Carolina:
| FINISH | PLAYER | EARNINGS |
| 1 | Rory McIlroy | $3,600,000 |
| 2 | Xander Schauffele | $2,160,000 |
| 3 | Byeong Hun An | $1,360,000 |
| T4 | Jason Day | $880,000 |
| T4 | Sungjae Im | $880,000 |
| T6 | Mackenzie Hughes | $695,000 |
| T6 | Denny McCarthy | $695,000 |
| T8 | Max Homa | $601,000 |
| T8 | Sepp Straka | $601,000 |
| T10 | Russell Henley | $501,000 |
| T10 | Grayson Murray | $501,000 |
| T10 | Taylor Pendrith | $501,000 |
| T13 | Corey Conners | $387,667 |
| T13 | Tommy Fleetwood | $387,667 |
| T13 | Sam Burns | $387,667 |
| T16 | Lucas Glover | $301,000 |
| T16 | Si Woo Kim | $301,000 |
| T16 | Seamus Power | $301,000 |
| T16 | Christiaan Bezuidenhout | $301,000 |
| T16 | Collin Morikawa | $301,000 |
| T21 | Justin Thomas | $224,667 |
| T21 | Keegan Bradley | $224,667 |
| T21 | Stephan Jaeger | $224,667 |
| T24 | Viktor Hovland | $166,500 |
| T24 | Webb Simpson | $166,500 |
| T24 | Nick Dunlap | $166,500 |
| T24 | Alex Noren | $166,500 |
| T24 | Lee Hodges | $166,500 |
| T29 | Patrick Cantlay | $130,500 |
| T29 | Jordan Spieth | $130,500 |
| T29 | Adam Scott | $130,500 |
| T29 | Patrick Rodgers | $130,500 |
| T29 | Andrew Putnam | $130,500 |
| T34 | Matt Kuchar | $106,000 |
| T34 | Harris English | $106,000 |
| T34 | Kurt Kitayama | $106,000 |
| T34 | Cameron Young |
Phil Mickelson couldn’t help but get involved in a furious exchange between Anthony Kim and Brandel Chamblee as they argued about LIV Golf and the PGA Tour.
Over the last couple of years Golf Channel analyst and one-time Tour winner Chamblee has been the instigator.
But it was actually Kim who decided to put Chamblee in his crosshairs this week, describing the 61-year-old as a ‘p—-‘ for imploring the North American circuit to strike a deal with the breakaway tour’s Saudi financiers.
Chamblee’s thoughts represented a seismic U-turn given the fact he previously called for Mickelson to be removed from golf’s hall of fame for his close ties to the Saudis.
Kim joined LIV in February having spent more than a decade in the wilderness after last competing on the PGA Tour in 2012.
When he emerged, he told of how he struggled with addiction and, alarmingly, claimed that doctors told him he wouldn’t live much longer unless he changed his ways.
The golfer has repeatedly pointed to the influence of his wife Emily and his daughter Bella for keeping him on the straight and narrow.
Kim has struggled for form with LIV so far but maintains he will turn the corner and win again.
Now, Mickelson has offered his two cents and claims that men’s professional golf is in the process being sorted out once and for all.
“Fixing the problem takes time but it’s better than waiting for it to collapse entirely,” he wrote.
Mickelson’s latest comments come as the PGA Tour unveiled a ‘transaction subcommittee’ that will meet with representatives of LIV and the PIF of Saudi Arabia.
It was first reported that Tiger Woods would be the only PGA Tour player involved in the face-to-face talks but it later emerged Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott will be on the board.
News of McIlroy’s involvement was surprising given that the aforementioned Woods, Jordan Spieth and Patrick Cantlay blocked McIlroy’s return to the policy board.
McIlroy insisted there were no hard feelings and denied there was a rift with Woods.
Phil Mickelson believes LIV Golf is helping to ‘fix’ professional golf, after highlighting a whole host of flaws formulated by the PGA Tour.
Mickelson became the Saudi-backed league’s trailblazer two years ago, having emerged as the first big name from PGA Tour to pledge his support to the breakaway circuit. Since then, the two rival tours have found themselves at war at the top of the golfing pyramid, and the six-time major champion has often been at the centre of the fallout.
He reentered the discussion on Saturday, taking to X (formerly Twitter ) to hit back at claims that the sport had been left broken by the recent split. “Golf was broken and is in the process of being fixed,” the HyFlyers captain tweeted.
“1) average age of pga tour viewer recently went from 60 to 65. 2) totally US centric and no plan to globalize opportunities. 3) monopolistic control of media rights wouldn’t allow for players to use YouTube and other social platforms to promote the game to the next generation and working from within the Tour wasn’t an option.
“Ie Bryson [DeChambeau]. What he’s doing now wasn’t allowed before LIV. Fixing the problem takes time but it’s better than waiting for it to collapse entirely.” One argument Mickelson has often used against the PGA Tour is players being unable to control their own media rights, a point he raised when first committing his loyalties to the Saudi setup.
His take on X came after fellow LIV star Anthony Kim had been embroiled in a social media fallout with staunch breakaway league critic Brandel Chamblee. Kim highlighted Chamblee’s u-turn on the Saudi involvement in professional golf, after claiming the Tour should reach an agreement with the Middle Eastern fund despite having previously been critical.
“Ramble Chamblee @chambleebrandel ur such a p—- 4 beating on ur chest & basically saying never retreat & hypocritically retreat,” Kim tweeted. “It is well known this talentless fool is disliked by most people in the golf world. U still gonna cover golf if @livgolf_league is involved?”
Former PGA Tour star and golf analyst Chamblee was quick to hit back, defending his reasoning behind back-tracking on previous criticism of the Saudi’s involvement in pro golf – all whilst including a low blow at Mickelson. “This is about as inaccurate as a lot of Mickelson’s drives,” Chamblee said in response to Kim.
“And sadly ironical coming two tweets after you asked for advice on raising your daughter that you would refer to someone as a female body part in a juvenile attempt to denigrate them. It’s clear that you were not offered disability for your pithy takes. As for your criticism of me saying a deal with the Saudis is the best deal for golf right now.”
He went on: “It’s something I’ve said recently, because I don’t think the Saudis are going to turn away from the game and they will continue to be a poaching threat and dilute the product of the PGA Tour. It’s the sad reality of you and your brethren on the LIV tour willingly dealing with a murderous dictator for profit so that he can hide his atrocities, that golf has had to try to figure out how to mitigate the influence of MBS, PIF and LIV in the otherwise philanthropical and merit based world of professional golf.
“Now why don’t you get back to doing what you formerly did best, which is to wow the world with your talent. I don’t like LIV for a lot of reasons, but I certainly enjoyed your golf and would love to see you playing anything like the semblance of the golfer you used to be.”
Kim made a shock return to pro golf earlier this year, signing for LIV as a wildcard 12 years after his last PGA Tour start.
Ian Poulter believes both he and Phil Mickelson will never be given the chance to face off as future Ryder Cup captains on the back of their move to LIV Golf.
Poulter has announced himself as a European Ryder Cup legend during his career but gave up the chance to represent Team Europe last Spring when resigning his DP World Tour membership. He enjoyed many a battle with his American rival Mickelson on the Ryder Cup stage, who has also made the Saudi switch.
Both Poulter and Mickelson looked to be guarantees as future captains in the matchplay event for their respected teams, but according to the Englishman this now looks unlikely.
Mickelson took to social media on Wednesday to discuss what will come next following his playing career, with one fan suggesting he should go into commentating. The HyFlyers captain instead however is keen to turn to one-off matches with amateurs in front of a set of cameras.
“Thank you for the kind words. However, just cuz someone CAN do something doesn’t mean they SHOULD do it,” he tweeted. “Instead of commentating, I’m going to shoot some Pros vs Schmos 9 hole matches. I’ll share insights throughout as well as talk a little smack. It won’t be the highest quality video but it’ll be fun for me to do and fun to watch I think too.”
And one man who is keen to take on Mickelson in a possible new venture is Poulter, having given up on a possible Ryder Cup reunion. “I’m happy to be the Schmos if you like,” the European responded. “Just like we could have been Ryder Cup Captains against each other. Which ain’t happening now.
Unexpected revelations are surfacing regarding the unfortunate situation faced by Rory McIlroy concerning his potential rejoining the policy board. Once holding a strong position as a policy board member, it might be surprising for the Northern Irishman to witness people turning against him.
While it may be a fresh experience for McIlroy, it appears that this occurrence isn’t unprecedented in the realm of professional golf. How, you might ask? Well, the answer lies in the connection to one of the key figures in LIV Golf, Phil Mickelson. Do McIlroy and Mickelson face similar circumstances? Let’s delve into that question.
The situations encountered by Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson
Phil Mickelson has consistently participated in discussions whenever the possibility of both tours merging has arisen. Additionally, the 54-year-old has expressed his views on the LIV Golf and PGA Tour merger, aligning with his rival Rory McIlroy’s stance that a division in golf is “not sustainable.”
Following the Northern Irishman’s shift in attitude towards LIV Golf, the four-time major winner actively advocated for the merger. Reports indicate the PGA Tour offered $50 million to the #2 golfer as recognition of his loyalty to the tour, given his decision not to join the LIV circuit. While this insight underscores the importance of both players, given their influential voices, the current circumstances seem to have undergone significant changes.
Despite being vocal online and in the press, Mickelson is far from assuming a “decision-making role.” Moreover, he is now excluded from crucial matters, including the merger, despite actively participating in discussions about the topic. In April, during the Masters, when questioned about the PGA Tour’s meeting with Yasir Al-Rumayyan the previous month, he swiftly responded, “Others are handling that. I’m not involved. Others are taking care of that.” In the wake of these events, the six-time major champion has recently dropped hints about retiring.
When it comes to McIlroy, PGA Tour pros like Tiger Woods, with whom he seems to have a positive rapport, opposed the Northern Irishman’s return to the policy board. Alongside Woods, other officials such as Jordan Spieth and Peter Cantlay voted against it. The pro also shared his remarks on developing the PGA Tour policy.
What did McIlroy say about his return?
Having resigned from the policy board in November 2023, shortly after realizing his significance, the 35-year-old hinted at his potential return, suggesting, “I could be helpful to the process.“ However, circumstances didn’t unfold favorably for him, and he recently expressed his sentiments regarding the matter.
McIlroy stated, “It just got pretty complicated and messy.” He further noted, “The way it happened, I think it opened up some old wounds and scars from the things that have happened before.” While pointing out the incidents from the past, the pro further revealed, “There’s a subset of people on the board that were maybe uncomfortable with me coming back on for some reason.”
Phil Mickelson appears to have taken some notes from Bryson DeChambeau and other golf content creators. Who says an old dog cannot learn new tricks?
Toronto radio host Chris McKee stated Lefty would instantly become the most sought-after television analyst after seeing Mickelson hint at retirement.
Those words prompted the six-time major winner to respond.
“Thank you for the kind words. However, just because someone CAN do something doesn’t mean they SHOULD do it,” Mickelson wrote. “Instead of commentating, I’m going to shoot some Pros vs Schmos 9-hole matches. I’ll share insights throughout as well as talk a little smack. It won’t be the highest quality video, but it’ll be fun for me to do and fun to watch, I think too.”
Ian Poulter then replied to Lefty. It seems a former Ryder Cup rivalry could be simmering.
The Englishman comically trolled himself and pitched his content idea to Mickelson.
“I’m happy to be the Schmos if you like.. just like we could have been Ryder Cup Captains against each other,” Poulter wrote. “Which ain’t happening now. So name the place and time, and I will bring the [camera emoji]. I’m all in [thumbs up and fist pump emoji]. Just put those calf muscles away. Tartans trousers only.”
Lefty only needed three words to answer Poulter’s request.
“Let’s do this,” he wrote.
However, Poulter was not the only person who offered to join him.
Wesley Bryan of Bryan Bros Golf YouTube channel commented on his first tweet, ready to play Lefty.