Phil Mickelson bolts to Saudi-backed LIV Tour after months of controversy
June 6, 2022
"The Great White Shark has caught his biggest fish.
Greg Norman, the front man for the controversial Saudi-backed LIV Golf series, on Monday landed 51-year-old Phil Mickelson, The Post has learned exclusively.
Last week, LIV Golf announced 42 of the 48 players in the field for its first event, June 9-11 outside of London. World No. 13 Dustin Johnson was the biggest name on the list. Now the event will also feature Mickelson, who’ll be playing a tournament for the first time since Feb. 6 when he competed in the Saudi International.
Johnson’s participation came as a surprise considering he’d publicly backed the PGA Tour in February. But a report out of the United Kingdom in The Telegraph, said Johnson was offered about $125 million by LIV Golf to join its series of tournaments.
It’s unknown what Mickelson was offered to join, but sources told The Post that negotiations between LIV Golf and Mickelson’s camp had been ongoing and there was a point last week that LIV believed Mickelson was on board. That negotiation was finally completed Monday.
“Phil Mickelson is unequivocally one of the greatest golfers of this generation,’’ Norman said. “His contributions to the sport and connection to fans around the globe cannot be overstated and we are grateful to have him. He strengthens an exciting field for London where we’re proud to launch a new era for golf.”
A complication for Mickelson has been the public fallout from comments he made to a writer (in a conversation Mickelson asserted was private) that ripped both the PGA Tour and the Saudi venture.
Since his comments were published, Mickelson issued a public apology and stated that he was going to take some time away from the game and has been in a state of self-exile. He last played a PGA Tour event in January at the Farmers Insurance Open.
Since then, the six-time major championship winner has skipped the Masters, which he’s won three times and calls his favorite event, and last month’s PGA Championship, at which was slated to defend the title he won in 2021."
Sauce/moar: https://nypost.com/2022/06/06/phil-mickelson-joins-liv-tour-after-months-of-controversy/
This is almost as big a scandal as that time Tiger married Phil's nanny..