feature-image

Getty

feature-image

Getty

The biggest critic of the PGA Tour is no longer playing for it. Yes, Phil Mickelson might have switched sides for good, but the stories of his public spats with the PGA Tour resonate well with his current standing. Not too long ago, Mickelson revealed the biased nature of the Tour in favor of Tiger Woods, which the former thoroughly condemned.

Terrell Owens holding Dude Wipes XL

Watch What’s Trending Now!

ADVERTISEMENT

What did Phil Mickelson say about PGA’s alleged bias towards Tiger Woods?

In an interview with Golf Digest before the 2009 US Open at Bethpage Black, Mickelson sat down for an interview covering a wide range of topics. Among them were questions about his and Tiger’s influence on the game, to which the 6-time Major Championship winner cried foul.

ADVERTISEMENT

Read more: Phil Mickelson Asserts the Takeover of LIV Golf From the PGA Tour: ‘Will Never Be the Case Again’

ADVERTISEMENT

“I think the tour talks to Tiger. That’s a critical element, and he should be consulted,” he said, before adding, “But if people assume that, before anything goes down, the tour talks to me about my opinion, that’s not correct.”

Mickelson further stressed the reasoning behind keeping every player out of decisions based on golf operations. “On the other hand, I believe no one player should have input on the operations of the tour. Why? Because you’re dealing with 200 individuals who are unable to take their personal bias out of the decision-making process,” he continued.

ADVERTISEMENT

Mickelson’s solution to the problem

Then what should the PGA do to hinder favoritism? Mickelson came up with an answer well beyond its time. “The tour should have 20 events where the top guys have to play. Whatever number you want to use,” he declared.

article-image

Getty

“As it is now, sponsors are upset because they don’t know who will be in the field, and therefore they don’t know what they’re buying…. Those 20 events would be the four majors, the Players Championship, the World Golf Championship events and 12 others,” he further stated his plan.

ADVERTISEMENT

As luck would have it, the PGA Tour has made ground-breaking changes to its schedule for the upcoming season. A few of these modifications include a mandatory set of events to be played by the top-ranked golfers, which includes the Players Championship, the Genesis Invitational, the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Memorial Tournament, the Sentry Tournament of Champions, and the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.

ADVERTISEMENT

These tournaments, alongside the four Major Championships and the season-ending FedEx Cup, will witness the best golfers on the Tour teeing up alongside each other. The fact that Mickelson predicted this transformation 13 years ago is living proof of the genius of that is the LIV golfer.

Watch this story: Greg Norman’s message to Phil Mickelson is going viral

ADVERTISEMENT

Share this with a friend:

Link Copied!

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Written by

author-image

Sharan Nair

837 Articles

Sharan Nair is a Senior Golf Writer at EssentiallySports. He constantly covers the ongoing PGA vs LIV Golf tussle as it progresses. With over 600 articles to his name, Sharan masters the sport with his in-depth knowledge and research that is reflected in his meticulous coverage of all the Majors. As an avid fan of Tiger Woods, Sharan firmly believes that Woods' 2019 Masters win was the greatest comeback in sports history. As a sports journalist, he aspires to one day sit down for an interview with the golf great himself. In his free time, Sharan loads up on some good golf reads; his favorite being 'The Glorious World Of Golf' by Peter Dobereiner.

Know more

Edited by

editor-image

Manaal Siddiqui

ADVERTISEMENT