Phil Mickelson has made himself one of the biggest enemies of the PGA Tour over the past several months, and the six-time major champion appears to still be enjoying that role.
Mickelson played in the LIV Golf event at The International in Bolton, Mass., over the weekend. The tournament featured a thrilling finish, with Dustin Johnson draining a long eagle putt on the first playoff hole to beat Anirban Lahiri and Joaquin Niemann. Mickelson finished tied for 40th and still won $134,000.
After the tournament, Mickelson spoke with the media about how LIV has been good for fans and good for all professional golfers. He then took a job at the PGA Tour and said they “magically found” a pile of new money.
Say what you want about Phil/this take, but you can’t deny the man has absolutely *elite* subtle dagger delivery. The deadpan here is 10/10. No tone change at all.
— Dan Rapaport (@Daniel_Rapaport) September 4, 2022
The PGA Tour recently announced sweeping changes that will go into effect next season. Many of them give PGA Tour golfers opportunities to earn far more money than they have in the past. That is obviously a direct response to so many players chasing the money and leaving for LIV. Mickelson’s point, which is a fair one, is that the PGA Tour probably would have just kept a lot of that money if LIV never came along.
Several of the top names in golf have left the PGA Tour to sign with LIV. Money is clearly the biggest draw, though there have been other reasons cited as well.
