Phil Mickelson Stepping Away From Golf After Receiving Backlash From Saudi League Comments

Legendary PGA golfer Phil Mickelson received heavy scrutiny for some comments made about his involvement in the Saudi League’s conception recently.

“They’re scary m—–f—— to get involved with,” Mickelson said in an interview that appeared in the Fire Pit Collective website and that will be part of a forthcoming book written by Shipnuck, “Phil: The Rip-Roaring (and Unauthorized!) Biography of Golf’s Most Colorful Superstar.”

“We know they killed (Washington Post reporter and U.S. resident Jamal) Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights,” he said. “They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shape how the PGA Tour operates.”

After Rory McIlroy and other players on the PGA Tour condemned Phil Mickelson for his ‘ignorant’ comments, “lefty” announced in a lengthy statement on Tuesday that he was taking a break from competitive golf.

“I have experienced many successful and rewarding moments that I will always cherish, but I have often failed myself and others too. The past 10 years I have felt the pressure and stress slowly affecting me at a deeper level. I know I have not been my best and desperately need some time away to prioritize the ones I love most and work on being the man I want to be,” he wrote.

Check out Phil Mickelson’s full statement here:

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Phil Mickelson issues an apology statement and says he “needs some time away to prioritize the ones I love most and work on being the man I want to be.” pic.twitter.com/NCsCpOIHli

— Geoff Shackelford (@GeoffShac) February 22, 2022

Alan Shpinuck — the reporter who shared Phil Mickelson’s controversial comments — disagreed with he PGA vet that there was anything “off the record about the comments made last week.

“The ‘off the record’ piece of this is completely false and I’ll have more to say on that shortly,” Shipnuck said in a tweet.

It appears that Phil Mickelson was caught saying some things he knows were out of line, and now he’s doing his best to dig himself out of a PR nightmare.

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