LIV Golf star Phil Mickelson is now one of the most divisive figures in the world of professional golf.
Mickelson played a leading role in the formation of LIV Golf back in 2022 after he upped sticks and led a mass exodus from the PGA Tour.
By his own admission, Mickelson ruined his chances of becoming Ryder Cup captain by joining LIV Golf.
That is such a shame, given the 55-year-old’s successful career in the game.
READ: Tiger Woods vs Phil Mickelson: Whose career earnings and
He hasn’t done himself any favours with his recent claims about the Saudi-backed outfit.
Back in May, Mickelson suggested that LIV team golf is even better than the Ryder Cup at times.
That was obviously a ludicrous statement but it’s worth noting that Mickelson has actually been proven right with his suggestion that the PGA Tour were holding more money back from the players than they should have been.
Players on the PGA Tour now are much richer as a result of LIV Golf being formed.
However, people seem to forget that, and instead focus on some of the bad things he may or may not have done.
Phil Mickelson accused of misleading major player into joining LIV Golf
Brandel Chamblee is well known for criticising Mickelson and the driving force he played behind LIV’s emergence on the scene.
So it’s no surprise that Chamblee took aim at the six-time major champion yet again, when speaking on Trey Wingo’s podcast.
He even accused Mickelson of misleading Jon Rahm into joining LIV Golf.
Chamblee said: “A lot of the players out there were misled, thinking they would be the impetus for change.
“Amongst them at the top of that heap was Jon Rahm. I think Jon Rahm was misled probably by Phil Mickelson, maybe by Greg Norman, that he was going to be the impetus for change.
“That he was such a a monumental star that if they got him everything would collapse and they’d be forced to come together.“
Chamblee is sometimes overly critical of LIV Golf. The main issue here is that he sometimes forgets that it is okay to criticise the Saudi regime and their human rights record while being open to the fact that LIV’s emergence has actually been a good thing for the PGA Tour.
The two things are not mutually exclusive.
The PGA Tour players are competing for more money right now than they ever have before, and that wouldn’t have happened without LIV coming onto the scene.
It’s also worth noting that Jon Rahm is very much his own man, and he would not have needed Mickelson to twist his arm in order to join LIV.
The four needle-movers in golf according to Brandel Chamblee
Chamblee has suggested that there are only four golfers in the world of professional golf who genuinely move the needle, so to speak, when it comes to getting fans watching the sport on TV.
He said: “There are very few people in the game of golf who cause people to stop mowing their lawn to go inside and watch golf.
“Tiger, Rory, Spieth, when Jordan Spieth was playing like Jordan Spieth and Phil Mickelson eons ago.
“But when Phil went to LIV and talked about the atrocities of the people who fund LIV and said that, in essence, he could use LIV as leverage to get what he wanted from the PGA Tour, it turned a lot of people off. In fact, it turned everybody in the game of golf off and they saw LIV for what it was – a money grab.“
In fairness, Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau should be on that list, but on the whole, Chamblee has got it spot on.
There genuinely aren’t many needle-movers in the world of professional golf, and LIV Golf definitely don’t have anywhere near enough of them.
