Last week I wrote about the fallout from the Phil Mickelson (Callaway Chrome Soft X) controversy, and how it particularly impacted me because I am a member of his Facebook Fan Club, which is a group of people who admire him. I don’t know if he knows anything about it or has authorized it, but the members are legitimate fans and the content shared is vetted by people who administer the site so it doesn’t become a form for funneling vulgarity.
My blog was posted on the site, which I expected, because I don’t think I wrote anything that was offensive. I highlighted many of the good things he has done on and off the golf course, as well as the bad things. If he were a traded stock, the line would show a lot of highs and lows.
His decision to go public about his support for the Saudi Super Golf League did not sit well with the many people who support the PGA Tour, from which Mickelson has benefitted from financially and in other ways.
But what really bothered me was a passage from an unauthorized book that will soon be published about Mickelson in which he talked about Saudi atrocities and yet was willing to back the tour because it was his one chance to make a huge financial score in the golf world.
The golf world reacted instantly and myself, similar to many other people, pounced on him, albeit I think I did it mercifully. The Facebook was full of comments that were far harsher.
I did this before Mickelson’s statement of contrition in which he claimed the passage in the book about the Saudis was off the record. Clearly only two people know the truth of that, and both Mickelson and the author differ on that. For the record, I don’t believe it was off the record, but having said that the book is unauthorized, and Mickelson agreed to the interview. Mickelson’s reputation had already been sullied by the golf world, and the statement about the Saudis only added another log to a fire that was burning out of control.
But having had a week to think about it, I decided that if you are a true fan you support the individual in good times and bad, much like being a friend. I believe Mickelson made some fundamental mistakes in taking his stance, primarily thinking he was bigger than the game or the people running it. When admitting he needed to take a break from the sport to essentially sort out his life, it suggested to me he had become a troubled individual who need some serious self-reflection time. He lost two major sponsors in KPMG and Workday, Callaway has reportedly put its relationship with him on hold, and American Express has decided it doesn’t want him to be the ambassador for its tournament. So, in trying to financially capitalize on an opportunity with a rival circuit that is throwing money at individuals to buy their support, it has literally come at a price. He has almost certainly lost the chance to compete in this Super Golf League because of his inflammatory remarks. Why would he want to play in it anyway?
He is rich enough, I believe, that he can still live comfortably off his earnings. This is more about the cost of his reputation.
I believe when he returns to playing on the PGA Tour he will be forgiven. Tiger Woods (Bridgestone Tour B XS) has made many errors in his life – albeit nothing directly involving the PGA Tour – and has had sponsors cut ties. But he has been forgiven and allowed several chances to atone for his mistakes.
Woods is a human, after all, not a machine, the same with Mickelson. People make mistakes, but as the expression goes to err is human, to forgive is divine.
With the Masters fast approaching, everyone is wondering whether Woods will play in it after his horrific car crash in December, 2021. Woods doesn’t know because basically his rebuilt body will let him know, and playing in the Masters is a physically-taxing event, to say nothing of the mental stress.
People in the golf world must be wondering if Mickelson will play in the Masters. It is every bit as compelling as the question of whether Woods will play. Mickelson’s emotional struggle and his ability to overcome this troubled time in his life is huge.
I believe the movers and the shakers of the golf world will not pose sanctions limiting his right to play in PGA tournaments because of the whole Saudi Super Golf League controversy, but I also think Mickelson will need to stand up and make a public statement about where his allegiance lies. It will be humbling, to be sure, but something he will need to do to cleanse his conscience. It doesn’t mean supplicating and bowing down for forgiveness; it’s more about following up on his statement last week and what has happened to him since then.
Mickelson has pumped too much sweat equity into the game of golf to be treated as a pariah, but it is up to him to decide what he wants to do going forward. Does he will want to support the Saudi Super Golf League or divorce himself from it? I don’t think he can be somewhere in between. It is his choice and either way there will be ramifications, both good and bad.
Too many elite golfers want nothing to do with the rival league because they are quite content with the way the PGA Tour is operating and have benefited from it. I’m quite sure Rory McIlroy (TaylorMade TP5X), who was quite vocal about his displeasure with Mickelson, will forgive Mickelson. And I think all the people who have aligned themselves with the PGA Tour and pledged their loyalty to it – Jon Rahm (Callaway Chrome Soft X) used the word fealty and said he doesn’t want to discuss the subject anymore – will embrace Mickelson or at least welcome him back.
The game is evolving every day and newer and younger stars are starting to push veterans such as Mickelson to the side, no longer fearing players such as him with tremendous pedigrees and shot-making skills. But you can’t dismiss Mickelson because he has been one of the legends who has helped to grow the game and showed last year in the PGA Championship he still has game.
I think sanity will ultimately prevail. Whether or not Mickelson can play at the elite level he once did or even pull off a miracle such as the one he did winning the PGA Championship at age 50 and becoming the oldest player to win a major, he has earned the right to return to the PGA Tour without recrimination.
I say that speaking as someone who is a fan of golf and Mickelson. I still believe his actions were wrong because he allowed himself to be swayed by a rival start-up league trying to use money to literally buy people, and I think he knows that. His reputation has been tarnished, but I don’t believe this will last forever. It will pass, like so many other transgressions people have made in their life. Find me a person who has never made a mistake in their life and I guarantee that person will be standing in a line without many others.
And here’s one more thing, whatever comes out in this book I would love to see Mickelson write his own, even if he controls the content. Because it will be Phil being Phil.
