Tiger Woods takes aim at Phil Mickelson & Saudi-funded LIV Golf

Woods stopped just shy of shouting “Treason!” and calling his longtime tour rival a traitor.

Tue, 17 May, 2022 - 21:45

Scott Michaux, Southern Hills

Tiger Woods will never be a full-time golfer again, but whatever golf he plays will be on the PGA Tour … and likely never with Phil Mickelson again.

Woods stopped just shy of shouting “Treason!” and calling his longtime tour rival a traitor as he dug his roots deeper in his PGA Tour legacy and denounced Mickelson’s involvement with the Greg Norman-headed and Saudi-backed LIV Golf.

As Woods makes his second major start of the year while Mickelson sits out his second in self-imposed exile, the three-time PGA champ and 15-time major winner had little genuine sympathy for his rival other than expressing disappointment that the defending PGA champion isn’t present.

In Tiger’s eyes, Mickelson brought this on himself.

“Phil has said some things that I think a lot of us who are committed to the (PGA Tour) and committed to the legacy of the tour have pushed back against, and he's taken some personal time, and we all understand that.

“But I think that some of his views on how the tour could be run, should be run … been a lot of disagreement there. But as we all know, as a professional, we miss him being out here. I mean, he's a big draw for the game of golf. He's just taking his time and we all wish him the best when he comes back.

“Obviously we're going to have difference of opinions, how he sees the tour, and we'll go from there.” Citing the polarizing global landscape in an era of social media that escalated Mickelson’s criticism of his home tour where he’s won 45 times – second only to Woods’ 82 among active players – Woods said, “the viewpoints that Phil has made with the tour and what the tour has meant to all of us has been polarizing as well.” “He has his opinion on where he sees the game of golf going. You know, I have my viewpoint how I see the game of golf, and I've supported the tour and my foundation has run events on the tour for a number of years,” Woods said.

“I just think that what Jack (Nicklaus) and Arnold (Palmer) have done in starting the (PGA Tour) and breaking away from the PGA of America and creating our tour in ’68 or ’69, somewhere in there, I just think there's a legacy to that. I've been playing out here for a couple of decades, and I think there's a legacy do it. I still think that the tour has so much to offer, so much opportunity.

“And I understand different viewpoints, but I believe in legacies. I believe in major championships. I believe in big events, comparisons to historical figures of the past. There's plenty of money out here. The tour is growing. But it's just like any other sport. It's like tennis. You have to go out there and earn it. You've got to go out there and play for it. We have opportunity to go ahead and do it. It's just not guaranteed up front.” That was a clear dig at the lucrative LIV Golf series, which will guarantee massive payouts, funded by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, to limited field events conducted over 54 holes. Players who chose sides and opt for LIV Golf over the legacy PGA and DP World tours are choosing money over competition.

Through the years as Woods has been embroiled in personal scandal and physical traumas that have at times diminished his career, Mickelson has often reached out to Woods to offer support. Woods has not reached to contact Mickelson, and he believes the circumstances aren’t similar.

“A lot of it has not to do with I think personal issues; it was our viewpoints of how the tour should be run and could be run, and what players are playing for and how we are playing for it,” Woods said. “I have a completely different stance on, and so no, I have not (reached out to him).

“I don't know what he's going through. But I know the comments he made about the tour and the way that it should be run, it could be run. … I just have a very different opinion on that. And so no, I have not reached out to him.” Woods, however, did not come to Southern Hills to speak about Mickelson and rival golf leagues. He came to the course where he won the 2007 PGA Championship to continue not only his progress after returning from injuries sustained in a February 2021 car crash but his quest to win more majors.

“I feel like I can, definitely,” he said of his chances to win this week. “I just have to go out there and do it. I have to do my work. Starts on Thursday and I'll be ready.” Woods took Monday off after his 43rd-place finish at the Masters to tend to his sore leg and body, but he has been ramping up his prep to build his stamina up for the other majors on more walking friendly golf courses. He started working towards Southern Hills on Tuesday after Augusta telling his team, “Let’s go.” “Figured the first mountain you climbed was Everest,” he said of the hilly terrain at Augusta National that took its toll on him in cold conditions as the weekend wore on. “That's the steepest golf course you're going to play and that was the first one you climbed it, and climbed. It's going to get flatter and better. But still, I still have tough days, and things aren't going to be as easy as people might think.” While the outside world lauded Woods for simply making the cut and finishing at Augusta, his standards remain higher.

“Everyone around me was very happy and ecstatic that I got around all 72 holes. I did not see it that way on Monday,” he said. “I was a little ticked I didn't putt well, and felt like I was hitting it good enough and I wish I had the stamina.

“You know, it's a normal, typical golfer, the what ifs, if I would have done this, I would have done that, would have done this. But taking a step back and looking at the overall big picture of it, it was an accomplishment. But that other side of me that says if I would have done things differently, I could have challenged for that thing. And I know that golf course, and I just … maybe next year will be different.” Southern Hills is a very different golf course than the one Woods played in the 2001 U.S. Open and nearly shot 62 on in the 2007 PGA. Fairways are much wider, more than 650 trees have been removed and the areas around greens are closely shaved instead of shrouded in rough. Temperature also aren’t hovering in triple digits Fahrenheit, with Saturday forecast this week to be as cool as in the 60s and significantly breezier than in summer.

“Gil (Hanse) has done a fantastic job of altering the golf course,” Woods said. “It has a lot more shot options, that's for sure, and we are going to be tested around the greens a lot. A lot of grain, a lot of creativity, but it still puts a premium in putting the ball in play and in the fairway and somehow below the holes in the right spots. There's still a lot of slope on some of these greens, a lot of pitch. But it is kind of nice to see 9 and 18 not cut at a different speeds.”