Tiger Woods Tears Into Phil Mickelson For Siding with Golf’s Saudi-Backed Rebel Series

Tiger Woods is a PGA guy.

Tiger Woods expressed his disappointment that Phil Mickelson is not at Southern Hills to defend his US Open crown this week, but only after ripping into his rival for siding with the Saudis and putting his own interests above that of the PGA Tour. Tiger shared his thought on the difficult subject about his rival.

“Phil has said some things that I think a lot of us who are committed to the 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,” Woods said.

“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 the opportunity to go ahead and do it. It’s just not guaranteed up front.”

Tiger Woods' thoughts on Phil Mickelson missing the PGA Championshippic.twitter.com/GUT6HzvKUE

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Tiger says he has not reached out to Phil Mickelson. Says it’s not personal issues but that he has a different view about how the tour should be run.

“A lot of it has not to do with … 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 … I have a completely different stance on,” he said. “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 and all the different financials that could have happened … I just have a very different opinion on that. So no, I have not reached out to him.”

“He has his opinion on where he sees the game of golf going. I have my viewpoint on 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 Tour and breaking away from the PGA of America and creating our Tour in 1968 or 1969, somewhere in there. I just think there’s a legacy to that,” Woods added. “I’ve been playing out here for… over a couple of decades, and I think there’s a legacy to it. I still think the Tour has so much to offer, so much opportunity.”

The PGA Championship kicks off Thursday. Woods, Rory McIlroy, and Jordan Spieth will be grouped together for the opening two rounds.

If Phil was playing  it would be a lot more interesting, but at least we get to see Tiger play.

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