19th Hole
Brandel Chamblee calls Mickelson a ‘highly paid ventriloquist puppet’ in scathing takedown
Last week, Phil Mickelson made headlines due to his critical remarks regarding the PGA Tour. Lefty accused the Tour of not distributing revenue to the players fairly, and used the words “obnoxious greed” to describe their practices.
His comments didn’t sit right with many, including Brooks Koepka who said: “[Don’t know] if I’d be using the word greedy if I’m Phil”.
Add Brandel Chamblee to the list of those who have taken issue with Mickelson’s comments. In an op-ed on the Golf Channel website, Chamblee went after the six time major champion, calling Lefty:
“A highly paid ventriloquist puppet involved in a sportswashing operation for a murderous regime guilty of human rights atrocities.”
In the column, Brandel went on to say
“When it comes to competing in professional events, Mickelson doesn’t and never has owned his media rights, so there is nothing to ‘hand back’,” said Chamblee.
“No sports league – not the NFL, MLB, NBA, the PGA Tour, nor any other league – would allow their athletes to own media rights. The profits derived from aggregating those rights fees provides infrastructure, pays league employees and helps pay the salaries of the athletes themselves (in this case, the ever-increasing purses and bonus pools available to Tour members, including Mickelson), to say nothing of protecting the investments of the networks.”
Chamblee added: “Could you imagine being a network that had paid hundreds of millions – or billions – of dollars for broadcast rights, only to have to compete with a Tom Brady, Mike Trout, LeBron James or a Tiger Woods Channel, where they ran their highlights on a loop?
“The networks would cease paying the exorbitant broadcast rights fees if such content was omnipresent. Which means the leagues themselves, in their current form, would cease to exist.”
It will be interesting to monitor the situation between Phil and the Tour going forward.
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According to Josh Carpenter of Sports Business Journal, last week’s Open Championship suffered its lowest television rating in almost a decade.
NBC and Peacock drew 3.39M viewers on Sunday for Xander Schauffele’s two-shot win in @TheOpen, down 4% from last year and Brian Harman.
That’s the lowest number for the final round since Zach Johnson’s win in 2015, which finished on a Monday on ESPN (cable) pic.twitter.com/9r7guxnfx1
— Josh Carpenter (@JoshACarpenter) July 23, 2024
The final round was down four percent from Brian Harman’s win in 2023 at Royal Liverpool, which offered very little drama down the stretch. It was the lowest-rated final round since Zach Johnson’s win in 2015 at St. Andrews: and that was a Monday finish.
Stars such as Rory McIlroy, Bryson DeChambeau, Ludvig Aberg, Viktor Hovland all missed the cut, which may have contributed to the lack of interest from casual golf fans.
This year, the Masters and The Open have decreased in ratings while the PGA Championship and U.S. Open saw an uptick. It’s fair to speculate whether the inclusion of Bryson DeChambeau deep into contention had an impact.
More from the 19th Hole
- Shane Lowry says this prevalent criticism surrounding Rory McIlroy ‘makes his blood boil’
- Brandel Chamblee on why he feels Rory’s game ‘deteriorates in the biggest moments‘
- Tiger Woods aims brutal dig at Colin Montgomerie
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While you’re here, check out BK’s look at Xander’s Open-winning WITB.
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19th Hole
‘That looks brutal’ – First photo of Tiger Woods’ leg without sleeve shows depth of injury
It’s been a struggle of late for Tiger Woods on the golf course. The 15-time major champion has only teed it up five times in 2024, finishing 60th in The Masters and missing the cut in the other three majors. He also played in the Genesis Invitational and was forced to withdraw.
Woods has many ailments, but none as debilitating as his surgically repaired leg. Since his car accident three years ago, the 48-year-old has rarely been seen without wearing a leg sleeve. However, on Monday, a fan was able to take a photograph of Woods’ leg without the sleeve.
@blakebunkersgolf IG
??? #LOOK: A photo has emerged of Tiger Woods without his leg sleeve @TWlegion
(Via: blakebunkersgolf/IG) pic.twitter.com/ppaGLdXg8X
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) July 22, 2024
The photo was taken at an event Tiger’s son, Charlie, was playing in by “blakebunkersgolf” on Instagram, and one of the top responses on X towards the photo was simply “That looks brutal.”
Woods has struggled with the lack of reps on the course but hasn’t given any indication as to whether his schedule will look any different come 2025.
More from the 19th Hole
- Shane Lowry says this prevalent criticism surrounding Rory McIlroy ‘makes his blood boil’
- Brandel Chamblee on why he feels Rory’s game ‘deteriorates in the biggest moments‘
- Tiger Woods aims brutal dig at Colin Montgomerie
New here?
While you’re here, check out BK’s look at Xander Schauffele’s winning WITB.
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John Daly withdrew at last week’s Open Championship with a knee injury, but the 58-year-old was back on the links this week showcasing one of the most famous golf courses in the world for his fans.
While at Trump Turnberry, John Daly recorded a video of the 18th green.
In the video, the 1995 Open Champion shared his opinion that Turnberry is the best golf course in Scotland, even better than St. Andrews.
?????????? #BEST OF THE BEST — John Daly says Trump Turnberry beats out St Andrews for the title of best golf course in Scotland.
Do you agree?
(Via: @LGlick1) pic.twitter.com/Ya7FIJEfp2
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) July 22, 2024
“Hey everybody, John Daly here. I’m at Trump Turnberry today. I went out and tried to play a little bit. This place is amazing. It is the best golf course in Scotland, I think. St. Andrews is my baby, but I think I just found my new baby. I’m at the 18th green right here, this thing is unreal.”
Turnberry hosted its first Open Championship in 1977, which was dubbed “The Duel in the Sun” when Tom Watson beat Jack Nicklaus by a single stroke. The most recent Open the course hosted was 2009, where Watson almost won again, but lost to Stewart Cink in a playoff.
The course is not slated to host any Open Championships in the foreseeable future.
More from the 19th Hole
- Shane Lowry says this prevalent criticism surrounding Rory McIlroy ‘makes his blood boil’
- Brandel Chamblee on why he feels Rory’s game ‘deteriorates in the biggest moments‘
- Tiger Woods aims brutal dig at Colin Montgomerie
New here?
While you’re here, check out BK’s look at Xander Schauffele’s winning WITB.
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