'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQAAAQABAAD/2wCEAAMDAwMDAwQEBAQFBQUFBQcHBgYHBwsICQgJCAsRCwwLCwwLEQ8SDw4PEg8bFRMTFRsfGhkaHyYiIiYwLTA+PlQBAwMDAwMDBAQEBAUFBQUFBwcGBgcHCwgJCAkICxELDAsLDAsRDxIPDg8SDxsVExMVGx8aGRofJiIiJjAtMD4+VP/AABEIAAUACgMBIgACEQEDEQH/xABdAAEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABggQAAIBBQEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAECAwAEBRExEyIBAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQFEQEAAgIDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAgMAIQQiUv/aAAwDAQACEQMRAD8AxVihdZTFCymn2kVvFkWYoGeR2AiCs5+iqg83qoyX0kldywUsxOlUKo2eADgpSpl2rSIAFUdBg+R1nEPBn//Z'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Phil Mickelson's 2022 will be remembered more outside the golf coarse than inside. Mickelson was in the headlines every month or two, but not for great reasons. He had a mediocre year on the greens, yet he was one of the top newsmakers of the year.
He spoke about the PGA Tour and spoke against their policies, but he didn't spare the LIV Golf either. A couple of his comments stirred a lot of controversy for the veteran.
Phil Mickelson vs PGA Tour
For the first time since 1994, Phil Mickelson missed the Masters. As per reports, the three-time Masters Champion was told by Augusta National officials not to come to the tournament this time. This happened due to his remarks on the PGA Tour.
Trending
Back in February, Mickelson accused the PGA of being greedy. He felt that he didn't have any rights over the footage of the shots he played and the Tour should be a little more flexible if they wanted to take on the Saudi-backed LIV Golf.
Mickelson was quoted by the Golf Digest as saying:
"But the players don’t have access to their own media. If the tour wanted to end any threat, they could just hand back the media rights to the players.
"But they would rather throw $25 million here and $40 million there than give back the roughly $20 billion in digital assets they control. Or give up access to the $50-plus million they make every year on their own media channel."
Phil Mickelson didn't even spare LIV
If you think Phil only had an opinion on the PGA, then you don't know him enough. Although he is associated with LIV, he still had a lot to say about them which caused a lot of noise.
Mickelson was quoted by Alan Shipnuck:
"They’re scary motherf—-,” with a “horrible record on human rights.”
Mickelson made these comments despite him supporting the rival league as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring changes to the PGA Tour.
That excerpt from his biography further stated that the country had executed the reporter Jamal Khashoggi, has been involved in anti-LGBTQ killings and had terrible statistics on human rights.
As a result, Mickelson lost several sponsors like KPMG and Workday while Callawy put it's long time relationship with Mickelson on hold. He was condemned by several players.
Rory McIlroy had strong words for Phil's comments and the overall scenario
He said in February:
"I don't want to kick someone while he's down obviously, but I thought were naïve, selfish, egotistical, ignorant."
As a result, Mickelson had to issue an apology,
His statement read:
“It was reckless, I offended people, and I am deeply sorry for my choice of words. 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.”
Mickelson's 2022 as a player.
As a professional, 2022 was a forgettable year for Phil Mickelson. He didn't play Masters, didn't play in the PGA Championship either, where he was a defending champion. Consequently, he got out of 200 in the OWGR. So we can say that 2022 was quite forgetful for the veteran and it can hopefully only get better from here.
