What a difference a few days can make. Just ask Phil Mickelson.
At this time last week, things seemed to be going quite well for the legendary golfer. Mickelson was well-positioned as the face of a controversial renegade golf league backed by Saudi Arabian money and ready to cash in on millions and millions and millions of dollars.
After an unquestionably woeful weekend, though, Mickelson has to be wondering what’s next.
Mickelson only has himself to blame at this rate. He made the worst kinds of headlines for what he told veteran golf writer Alan Shipnuck late last year, which Shipnuck shared in an excerpt for his upcoming book about Mickelson. Among Mickelson’s missteps was his baffling decision to downplay the human rights atrocities committed by the Saudi government, saying the initiative was a way to fix the PGA Tour.
And from a business standpoint, Mickelson might have done the most harm by not even fully supporting the Saudi league and its viability.
“The Saudi money has finally given us that leverage,” he told Shipnuck. “I’m not sure I even want (Saudi league) to succeed, but just the idea of it is allowing us to get things done with the Tour.”
It didn’t take long for the dominoes to start falling. Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau, rumored to be among the longtime Tour stars set to jump ship, both essentially voiced their support — to various degrees — of the Tour. Johnson made it quite clear he’s not leaving the Tour, while DeChambeau’s statement was far more tepid — and intentionally ambiguous.
Each seem to have a very clear objective, though: Distance yourself from Mickelson, as soon as possible, at least for the time being.
In addition to all that, Mickelson admitted to Shipnuck that he and other players hired lawyers to help draw up the Saudi league and facilitate the exit. That went over about as well as you would expect with players who are still on Tour with no plans of leaving.
Multiple Tour superstars criticized Mickelson this weekend at the Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles. Justin Thomas called it “egotistical,” while Rory McIlroy teed off on the whole mess.
“I don’t want to kick someone while he’s down obviously, but I thought they were naive, selfish, egotistical, ignorant,” McIlroy told reporters after his round Sunday. “A lot of words describe that interaction he had with Shipnuck. It was just very surprising and disappointing, sad. I’m sure he’s sitting at home sort of rethinking his position and where he goes from here”
It leaves Mickelson in an unenviable position, to say the least. The Saudi league isn’t dead and probably won’t die, but any momentum it had into last week has been halted — 100% thanks to Mickelson. Meanwhile, if the Saudi league did fall apart or cut ties with Mickelson, it’s hard to know what he might be able to fall back on. The PGA Tour isn’t likely — nor should it be — eager to welcome Mickelson back with open arms after not just his continued public criticism but, you know, hiring lawyers to draw up an entirely new league to carry out his vendetta.
Mickelson’s fall from grace started a while back, but it certainly has accelerated in the last week, and he has no one to blame but himself.
