NASSAU, Bahamas — A 12 months in the past this week, as Tiger Woods’ 2021 Hero Problem was happening, LIV Golf was a mere rumor with a variety of chatter and innuendo concerning it coming from the darkish corners of the PGA Tour.
Lower than two months later, LIV Golf exploded after which information broke about Phil Mickelson becoming a member of the Saudi-backed tour for a reported $200 million assured. Different huge names in golf, akin to Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau, then signed on and extra adopted.
Mickelson was at all times the face of the LIV Golf motion from the PGA Tour, and due to that he has taken all of the denunciation from the critics who sided with the PGA Tour.
But it was Mickelson who insisted the PGA Tour was sitting on untold thousands and thousands that its gamers weren’t not receiving.
Mickelson shook the PGA Tour tree. The outcome has been lots of of thousands and thousands of dollars the PGA Tour claimed it didn’t have being added to purses, and that’s not together with the ballooning to $100 million of the Participant Influence Program (PIP), which is actually popularity-contest bonus cash for prime gamers.
For shaking the tree and serving to rattle these thousands and thousands from the PGA Tour branches, Mickelson has been given little credit score by the gamers who remained on the PGA Tour and are reaping the monetary advantages.
On Tuesday, I requested Tiger Woods whether or not, contemplating the heavy criticism Mickelson has taken and the added cash PGA Tour gamers at the moment are making due to Mickelson, he's owed an apology, and Woods was fast along with his reply.
“No, completely not, no,” he stated. “We took out an infinite mortgage in the course of the pandemic wherein that, if we had one other 12 months of the pandemic, our Tour would solely be sustained for an additional 12 months. So, we took out an infinite mortgage. It labored, it paid off in our profit, therefore we had been in a position to make use of that cash to make the will increase that we’ve made.”
The Woods reply was a non-answer, a diversion from the query, which has at all times been the way in which he operates when he’s uncomfortable with a question.
However worse: Woods’ reply was an infinite untruth.
When a PGA Tour official was requested about that “mortgage” Woods pontificated on, the particular person stated there was no mortgage taken, however that the Tour dipped into its personal “reserves’’ for the cash wanted.
In the meantime, it didn’t take Mickelson lengthy to reply to Woods’ non-truth with a Twitter publish: “Pga tour IRS 990 kind from 2018 1.6 billion in shares 700 million in money 1.15 billion in non liquid property. That is from the non revenue part. The for revenue part hasn’t been said since 2012 however was greater than the non revenue half at the moment. This could all be googled.”
Prior to now two years, the PGA Tour had elevated purses by $165 million. As for the Tour’s $100 million PIP cash seize, Woods completed No. 1 for the second consecutive 12 months and cashed $15 million regardless of enjoying in components of simply three tournaments in 2022.
Invoice Horschel, who was one of the vital vocal critics of Mickelson in public, took residence $3 million in free cash from the PGA Tour slush fund.
But, when requested by The Publish on Wednesday if he considered Mickelson any in another way contemplating the cash his controversial actions helped shake free for PGA Tour gamers, Horschel stated, “I don’t.”
“What Mickelson stated is what guys have talked about on the PGA Tour for years, we simply by no means acquired collectively as a gaggle to make modifications,” Horschel went on. “Was it Mickelson that acquired us collectively or was it LIV that acquired us collectively? I believe LIV acquired us collectively to assist make modifications for the betterment of the PGA Tour.
“I don’t assume I’d give Mickelson any credit score for what we’re doing out right here. I might give the factor of competitors [from LIV] and the PGA Tour having to go in opposition to one other entity that's viable and has cash and might do issues. That's what has introduced us collectively, was that entity, not Mickelson himself.”
Jon Rahm, a longtime pal of Mickelson’s, whom he considers a mentor, stated he doesn’t know “if these modifications would have occurred if LIV wasn’t within the image, so, to an extent, yeah, we must be grateful [for Mickelson’s actions].”
Max Homa, who cashed $3 million of PIP money, offered an sincere and educated reply to what’s taken place.
“Do I believe [Mickelson] deserves an apology? If individuals had been to try this, I wouldn’t blame them,” Homa instructed The Publish. “I acknowledge that he shook the tree, and yeah we’re benefitting financially, however we additionally should reply this query each week concerning the LIV Tour whereas our product has gone down. It’s good we’re making extra money, and if that's as a result of Phil did what he did then I wouldn’t say somebody ought to apologize, however I might say you would be a bit extra grateful.
“However this has brought on extra chaos than I believe the monetary good thing about it,” Homa went on. “It’s diluted each merchandise. [The PGA Tour] shouldn't be as elite because it may very well be. It’s not like I used to be crying poor earlier than any of this occurred. I wasn’t asking for $3 million of PIP cash.”
However he didn’t give it again, both.
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