Leading Golfer Phil Mickelson faced swift retribution for his support for the ‘scary’ Saudis’ golf league, even as his long-time sponsor KPMG dumped him. The golfer had mentioned his support for the Saudi-backed rival league despite the record of the Saudis. The golfer swiftly apologized, but by then the damage was done.
Phil Mickelson apologized and said it had been a reckless move. He revealed he was taking a break from golfing. He said that his words had been offensive, but they did not reflect his true intentions or feelings.
The planned Super Golf League is backed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund. The $400B wealth fund has been trying to lure away established golfers such as Phil Mickelson from the PGA Tour.
Phil Mickelson said he was more than disappointed and would make a sincere effort to reflect and pick up from the incident.
Phil Mickelson Made The Controversial Statement In An Unofficial Biography
Last week, the 51-year-old Mickelson had caused a controversy when excerpts from his forthcoming unapproved biography were released by author Alan Shipnuck.
In an excerpt, Phil Mickelson said that despite the ‘scary’ Saudis, he preferred to look beyond their appalling human rights record and play in their version of the PGA Tour.
Mickelson has stayed out of the PGA Tour for the last 4 seasons. He said that the stress of the past years was taking its toll, and he needed time to line up the ones close to him and also turn into a better man.
Shipnuck said that Phil Mickelson had contacted him to talk about the PGA Tour, but had never indicated that he wanted the conversation to be off the record and for purposes of just background.
Greg Norman is fronting the rival league and has made attempts to poach away PGA players. Most have chosen to stay with the PGA Tour. He was heavily criticized by other Tour players, among them Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy.
Mickelson was leading the move for a proposed break-away league scheduled to start this summer with 10 tournaments scheduled in the US.
