Mickelson Morphs Into LIV Pro Guy
The major champ is back to his wacky press conference ways and increasingly shares a lot in common with Club Pro Guy.
Consider what these two veterans appear to have in common:
Compete in a shotgun-start exhibition league? ✅
Consistently drag down their teams with mediocre play? ✅
Well-known gambling issues leading to questionable decisions? ✅
Propensity to wear sunglasses indoors? ✅
Own regrettable tattoos received in a foreign land? ✅
Tendency to hold strange press conferences? ✅
Sponsored by multiple brands? Oops, Club Pro Guy owns this one.
What a time to be alive watching a six-time major champion and Arnold Palmer of his generation with fewer endorsement deals than a fictional golf pro stuck in 1991 at the height of his Mexican Mini-Tour powers.
But Phil Mickelson still has one big deal requiring a second 2022 trip to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for the penultimate event of LIV Golf’s inaugural season. Given a chance Thursday to set a things straight after his year unraveled just days after February’s appearance at Royal Greens, Mickelson instead went full Club Pro Guy during a pre-tournament press conference.
Sporting a miniature King Kong on his left hand henna tattoo of his logo, Mickelson took two questions from LIV’s house reporter before staring down a softball offering a chance to mop up a mess he’d made in Aisle Shipnuck.
Q. You made some comments about this country last year which you've apologized for. I wondered how you feel about now you're here? Have you changed your opinion?
PHIL MICKELSON: So I will reiterate, I never did an interview with Alan Shipnuck. And I find that my experience with everybody associated with LIV Golf has been nothing but incredibly positive and I have the utmost respect for everybody that I've been involved with.
While the Shipnuck interview claim got all of the social media attention—and we’ll get there—it’s noteworthy that Mickelson received a chance to state whether he’d changed his opinion of Saudi Arabia after the headline-making “scary m*&^%^#$!@#&’s” diatribe over the Kingdom’s human rights issues. Mickelson kept his compliment to “everybody associated with LIV Golf has been nothing but positive.”
Yet other than the top figure running the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia for the Crown Prince, LIV’s team comes almost entirely from well outside of Saudi Arabia. Given a rumored $200 million payment, this was Phil’s chance spread some premium FIGJAM all over Saudi Arabia the way CPG pimps his prime sponsors at Betparx Casino. Something like:
Golly it’s amazing to be here in Saudi Arabia. The Red Sea is so tranquil. I get a great night’s sleep in the amazing offshore yacht our hosts from the Kingdom have provided. Also, it’s remarkable to see so many women out at restaurants. Speaking of, did anyone notice? Not one mass beheading in months!”
Okay that needs workshopping. But you get the idea. As for his Shipnuck “interview” claim?