Phil Mickelson lobbied to end the hostilities between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf and extended an olive branch to Rory McIlroy following his latest comments.
This quote and the many others made today by Rory probably weren’t easy to say. Let’s not use this as an opportunity to pile on. Rather, It’s time for me and others to let go of our hostilities and work towards a positive future. Rahms’ signing is turning into a bridge to bring… https://t.co/KG2wifcWvT
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) January 4, 2024
Seemingly, Mickelson extends to McIlroy"s words of criticizing the PGA Tour"s business model and how LIV Golf was able to expose it by signing away several top stars.
In a post on X, Mickelson told people not to "pile on" what Mcllroy said,
"This quote and the many others made today by Rory [McIlroy] probably weren"t easy to say. Let"s not use this as an opportunity to pile on. Rather, It"s time for me and others to let go of our hostilities and work towards a positive future."
Both Mickelson and McIlroy in recent times have been two of the loudest voices of today’s golf. The American is one of the first high-profile names to join the 54-hole league and the current World No.2 a staunch defender of the PGA Tour.
The comments made by McIlroy came during an appearance on the Stick to Football podcast, he claimed it "was a bit of a mistake" to criticize players who move to LIV Golf.
The PGA Tour begins its 2024 season on Thursday, The Sentry tees off with a $20 million purse in Maui, McIlroy is not competing in this week’s tournament.
In the podcast, he seemingly accepts that LIV is "part of our sport now" and also mentioned Jon Rahm’s decision to join LIV Golf last month as a "smart business move."
He claimed the PGA Tour can"t guarantee to sponsors which players are going to appear in which tournaments, in the podcast,
"But I think what LIV and the Saudis have exposed is that you"re asking for millions of dollars to sponsor these events, and you"re not able to guarantee to the sponsors that the players are going to show up. I can"t believe the PGA Tour has done so well for so long."
The financial investment poured on LIV Golf by the Saudi Public Investment Fund made it a significant challenger to the PGA Tour for top golfers.
