Phil Mickelson's '£750m offer' to PGA Tour, 'greedy' accusation, Tiger Woods dinner snub
Phil Mickelson remains at loggerheads with the PGA Tour. His feud with the organisation has continued after Wesley Bryan was suspended for participating in a LIV Golf event.
Earlier this month, LIV debuted The Duels, a new format that paired six professionals from the Saudi-backed tour with social media influencers. Sergio Garcia, Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson, Mickelson, and Bryan were all involved.
Despite barely playing in recent times and not holding a card, Bryan has been suspended by the PGA Tour. A furious Mickelson called for the US Department of Justice to intervene as he spoke out against the decision.
He said: "Here's a question. Normally when an entity violates independent contract law, they deny that it happened and forces the contractor/individual to prove that it did.
"In this case the PGA Tour blatantly admits they are illegally banning an independent contractor, so why doesn't they DOJ step in and enforce the law? Why does the individual have to sue to enforcer the law? DOJ do your f****** job!".
The tirade is just the latest in several shots Mickelson has taken at the PGA Tour going back to before he even left for LIV...
'Greedy' accusation
In early 2022, with rumours running wild over his future, 'Leftie' took a shot at the PGA Tour, accusing it of greed amid his long-held complaint over media rights.
He told Golf Digest: "There are many issues, but that is one of the biggest. For me, personally, it's not enough that they are sitting on hundreds of millions of digital moments. They also have access to my shots, access I do not have.
"They also charge companies to use shots I have hit. And when I did 'The Match' - there have been five of them - the tour forced me to pay them $1million [£750,000] each time. For my own media rights. That type of greed is, to me, beyond obnoxious."
Mickelson also claimed that the Tour controls a vast wealth of media assets worth "roughly $20billion" (£15billion) and countless digital moments that he believes should be owned by the players.
The PGA Tour hit back, disputing Mickelson's allegations. An executive told GOLF.com that most players are content with the Tour's financial operations, saying: "I've never seen anybody be really interested in how we generate the money.
"There's some conversation about it now because, you know, Phil's making stuff up that's just not true. But in general, they're happy that there's a lot of money that comes from it."
According to the Tour, it shares more than half of its annual revenue, which is around $1.5bn (£1.13m), with the players, aligning with the practices of other professional sports leagues.
Monahan criticism
Mickelson hasn't minced his words when it comes PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan. In November, amid rumours Monahan might ousted if a deal between the Tour and Saudi's PIF became reality, he said: "Golf is in this situation entirely because of [Monahan]".
He also said that the Tour chief was "losing trust with his players" and that "there's no unity or path forward with [Monahan] involved in my opinion as well."
'$1billion peace offer'
In a bombshell claim, Mickelson claimed that he'd proposed a whopping $1 billion (£750m) compromise to the Tour by way of "eight elevated events". Mickelson revealed: "Before I left I brought a $1 billion commitment from a current PGA Tour partner to have 8 elevated events and give equity and ownership in these events to the players. JM's quote was: 'I don't believe the league is going to happen so we won't be doing that'. No vote, no discussion."
Apology demand
A year into LIV's life, Mickelson demanded an apology from the PGA Tour. That was after it was suggested in a leaked memo that he and others who spoke out against the PGA Tour would be treated harsher than other defectors - if they decided to return.
Mickelson declared: "What a colossal waste of time. Not a single player on LIV wants to play PGA Tour.
"It would require a public apology and restitution to LIV players for paying millions to Clout media to disparage all of us. A better topic is future sanctions for the many players who now come to LIV."
Tiger Woods dinner snub
In Alan Shipnuck's 'LIV and Let Die' book, it was alleged that Tiger Woods had Mickelson blocked from a past champions' dinner at the 150th Open Championship in 2022. An unnamed source claimed: "He [Woods] talked to a handful of other [past champions] to get their blessing and then went to the RandA and told them, basically, no one wanted Phil there and it would make the night weird and awkward. Whose side were they going to take, Tiger's or Phil's? That's an easy choice."
Still talking up LIV
Mickelson remains an unwavering champion of LIV Golf and insists it is superior to the PGA Tour for numerous reasons. Earlier this year, he told The Joe Pomp Show: "You go to a LIV event, you feel different. Here's why: You have music going when you're out on the course. We don't hear little people saying stuff.
"So you're not as anxious about having your kids be quiet. There's a fan zone like on the course where you can sit down, take a break, grab some drinks. It's like a little hang. You can take a nap.
"They have a kid zone by the clubhouse where, again, you can take a nap, play putt-putt, play games for them and entertain them with a big screen so you can still see what's going on with the golf.
"So when you go there, you feel calm. You feel comfortable. It's like, 'OK, our kids had a great time. I was relaxed. I wasn't worried'. I think that's the number one reason why LIV is going to be successful."
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