Phil Mickelson stepped up to the microphone at the US Open on Monday for a press conference and was grilled over LIV Golf, his personal life and more.
Throughout his career, getting Phil Mickelson in front of a microphone has always been something to see, largely because of the entertainment value. For his faults — prior to the ones revealed over the past six months — he’s one of the greatest talkers in the history of golf. When he stepped up to the microphone on Monday for his US Open press conference, though, that man was gone.
The six-time major champion who turns 52 years old when the tournament at The Country Club tees off on Thursday was the first player to speak with the media. And in the simplest terms, it was different.
Mickelson had no bravado, no swagger. He looked the part of a man with his back against the ropes, his hands tied, and who was having difficulty justifying his decision to sell out and play LIV Golf. CBS Sports’ Kyle Porter perhaps said it best about how weird it was to see Phil look like a shell of what he once was.
Because of that, there were a lot of non-answers, frankly, to the tough questions asked. But let’s take a look at what he had to say in his US Open presser.
Phil Mickelson US Open press conference quotes: What Phil said at Brookline
When asked about his plans for playing moving forward, Mickelson said that he is suspended by the PGA Tour but plans to keep playing the LIV Golf events, play The Open Championship and retain his lifetime membership on the PGA Tour.
Mickelson was also asked about the Saudi Arabian government’s connections to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and how he could justify his connection with that regime. He elected to talk about his empathy for those families and didn’t address the question at all.
He was also directly asked about the reaction to his decision to join LIV Golf. It was once again a non-answer as he talked about respecting — the buzzword for the day — all the PGA Tour players and everyone’s “strong emotions” regarding his decision.
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While there isn’t a direct quote, it’s worth noting in regards to his uncomfortable demeanor and edginess that Mickelson consistently decried reporters asking “multiple questions” instead of one simple question at a time.
That was just about everything of note. Again, Mickelson was simply not interested in facing the music or the severity of his words, actions and decisions, which was abundantly clear when he was behind the microphone. None of this will do anything to lessen the scrutiny he’s been under, and nor should it.
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