Phil Mickelson will no longer serve as host of the PGA Tour’s the American Express tournament in La Quinta, California following the fallout over his comments about a proposed Saudi-backed league, the Desert Sun reported on Saturday.
Phil Mickelson Comments: On pga tour| About pga
On PGA Tour:
Saudi Arabia’s government denies accusations of human rights abuses. Mickelson’s comments, which he claimed were off the record, drew immediate backlash from golfers including Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas.
In a lengthy statement on Tuesday, Mickelson apologized to the “visionaries” at LIV Golf Investments, the Super Golf League’s financial backer, for his “reckless” comments and reiterated that he believed the PGA Tour needed fundamental change.
The 51-year-old American added that he planned to take a break from the sport. Mickelson has parted ways with a number of sponsors including accounting firm KPMG and software company Workday in the wake of the controversy.
About PGA:
No golfers have publicly signed up for the proposed rival league, which is trying to lure top players away from the PGA Tour with the promise of huge paydays.
Mickelson has produced extraordinary moments in his career but nothing to match the simultaneous scorching of the Saudis and the PGA Tour. “They are scary motherfuckers to get involved with,” Mickelson said of Saudi Arabia. “We know they killed [Jamal] Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights.
They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates. They’ve been able to get by with manipulative, coercive, strong-arm tactics because we, the players, had no recourse.” So Mickelson knew precisely about the issues that afflict any relationship with Saudi Arabia but, in the name of commercial leverage, proceeded anyway.
