The fallout of Mickelson’s revelations has been a slew of pledges of allegiance to the PGA Tour by the bulk of the highest ranked players in the world
Rory McIlroy walked off the golf course in the Riviera and immediately ignited the hopes of the Phil Mickelson and alleged Greg Norman-led LIV Golf Investment rival league.
Referring to Mickelson's comments from November with American golf writer Alan Shipnk, which revealed his motives to help draft plans around the expected Saudi-funded league, McIlroy didn't hold back.
"I don't want to kick someone while he's clearly down, but I thought they were nave, selfish, arrogant, ignorant," McIlroy said after making the top-10 at the Genesis Invitational in Riviera on Sunday. "
“Too many words to describe his conversation with Shipunk. It was so surprising and disappointing, sad. I bet he is sitting at home reconsidering his position and where he goes from here.”
Mickelson acknowledged in a phone conversation late last year that the Saudis were "washing the game" and called them a "scary bastard to be involved in".
“We know they killed [Washington Post reporter and US resident Jamal] Khashoggi and have a terrible record on human rights,” he said. "They kill people out there for being gay. Knowing all this, why should I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape the way the PGA Tour operates."
“They are able to get by with manipulative, coercive, strong-arm tactics because we, the players, had no recourse. [PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan] comes across as a good guy , Unless you have leverage, it won't do what is right. And Saudi money has finally given us that advantage. I'm not sure I want [SGL] to succeed as well, but just the idea of us [PGA] allowing work to work with Tour.
The result of Mickelson's revelations has been a spate of pledges of allegiance to the PGA Tour by most of the world's highest-ranked players.
On Sunday, Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau - considered two of the biggest pieces in Norman's plan to attract the best talent to his Saudi venture - issued statements saying they would remain members of the PGA Tour.
They joined a slew of commitments from top players, including McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Colin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka and Jordan Spieth, in pledging for the PGA Tour.
Asked if he thinks Johnson and DeChambeau's statement ended the threat to the LIV golf venture, McIlroy said: "Yeah, yeah. Who's left? Who's left to go? I mean, There is none. In my opinion it is dead in the water. I see no reason why anyone would."
McIlroy has been steadfast in his commitment to the PGA Tour since early last year, and he was pleased to see several other key players follow in step.
"I don't think it's surprising whatever has happened in the last few days," he added, and Johnson and DeChambeau himself added to the list. "As I've always reiterated, I think it's the best place to play golf if you're an elite professional golfer. Maybe I'm lucky enough to know more about the inner workings of the tour and I have been more involved and have a very good relationship with the leadership team on the PGA Tour.
"I'm always sure the tour is going in the right direction. I'm really glad to see the statements DJ and Bryson made this week. We all want to play against the best players in the world and they're definitely two of the best in the world." The players are there and it's good to know that they are committed to playing here and making it the best tour in the world."
Rivera has built up momentum among the top-ranked players over the week as well. Despite veterans such as Adam Scott expressing a keen interest in what LIV Golf had to offer, the tide was turning in favor of the PGA Tour and its strategic partner DP World Tour.
Even tournament host Tiger Woods was determined to return to playing golf on the PGA Tour.
"The epicenter of the professional world still revolves around Tiger, he is the epicenter, and if they don't have that," McIlroy said. "Like who knows when he's going to play again, but if they don't even have his blessing, there's no chance of it. Then roll in Jon Rahm, the best player in the world, Colin Morikawa, No. 2, , everyone else who has been there for a while.
McIlroy believes it is more than Mickelson's stated campaign against the PGA Tour and its commissioner that has turned his fellow professionals off.
"I knew the way these guys acted and it's all smoke and mirrors and they created rumors and spread rumors and tried to play one guy over another and said one thing to a manager and Said a different thing to another manager and just created such chaos and confusion around that group, and everyone is questioning everyone's intentions, so they sort of isolate everyone from each other. are," McIlroy said.
"I think it's cool now that we can all sit down and say, Look, we're all on the same page here. Are there things that Tour could do better and they're definitely working, but It's the same in any business in any sports league around the world. They're all trying to get better just like on the PGA Tour. But that's why the tournament in Saudi happened a couple of weeks ago, I thought it was too much That's cool, there was no announcement that was actually made, and I think once that happened everyone was waiting for something and nothing really came."
After all, McIlroy was keen to point out that he had a good ending, despite not keeping up with the fast pace of Genesis wire-to-wire winner Joaquin Nieman.
"I had a really really good week," he said. "Quietly solid. I shot four rounds under par. I had a good 67-68 weekend. I played well. My game is close, close. I definitely tried this week to cross 21-under and keep up with Joaco." Didn't do enough for me, but I'm happy with my week."