19th Hole
Pat Perez reveals his ‘hatred’ of Phil Mickelson after Lefty committed ‘unforgivable’ act
Pat Perez has had one hell of a time on the LIV Golf series.
In March he told reporters he was doubtful that the tour would go ahead, yet a few weeks later signed to the Greg Norman-led tour, prompting his wife, Ashley, to take to social media and tell the haters exactly what she thought.
Take it back to an early episode of GOLF’s Subpar podcast, and the 46-year-old told Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz that Phil Mickelson’s infamous apology was, “such horseshit.”
“In the fact that he thought he was trying to make it better for the players. He was in it for one reason. If anybody thinks he wasn’t in it for his own pocket, and his pocket only, is (blanking) high. They are (blanking) crazy.”
“He was in it for himself. Why he went down two different avenues and basically buried himself on both, I can’t figure it out.”
Either way, Perez has done rather well for himself.
Despite not finishing closer than 15th in any of the limited-field events, Perez finished 8th in the end-of-series table racking up a total of $8 million, the vast majority of that being made up by being a member of the all-conquering 4Aces GC, led by series winner Dustin Johnson, and comprising Patrick Reed (2nd in the table) and Talor Gooch (3rd).
Next season, however, DJ has made a change, with Peter Uihlein replacing Gooch – Perez, however, seems to be staying.
After the season had finished, Perez joined Claude Harmon on the Son of a Butch podcast to discuss the series and, particularly, his long-term ‘hate’ of Mickelson.
The three-time PGA Tour winner admitted that Mickelson’s comments on the Saudi regime nearly ruined what has become something of a money-pit for the players, and how Lefty committed an unforgivable act against him:
“When it comes to Phil, I have a different hate for Phil than most people. People won’t know the story. I’m not going to go into the story again, but Phil crossed the line with me that is just uncrossable and unforgivable.
He knows that he screwed up. He apologised for the accident, but I cannot forgive him for it because I’ve known Phil for a long, long time. I’ve known the guy forever.”
Perez continued:
“And the fact that when he made this action, not only was it – he had intentions of doing it. He was already – he knew it was going to happen before it happened and when he did it – I was hurt for one. I was like, ‘how can this guy do this?'”
I didn’t really go into it on Colt’s thing (Colt Knost), but I told Colt and said ‘you’ve cut out all the reasons of why I don’t like Phil’ – the other side of the coin is that everyone thought that Phil was greedy. No, he wasn’t greedy.”
If anybody knows what’s going on, Phil has been in the top 50 his whole career. He’s been involved in all these teams and all the things that are going on, on the Tour. He is very knowledgeable about what is going on, on the Tour and he voiced his displeasure at what is going on, on the Tour.”
Perez was one of 11 players named on an ‘anti-trust’ lawsuit served upon the PGA Tour, but has now pulled out, having not thought it through. Mickelson has since also followed many of his LIV colleagues in removing his name from the court case, set to begin in a year’s time.
Relaxing his clear animosity towards the six-time major champion, Perez did believe Lefty was correct in some way, although could have been the downfall of many of the current playing staff.
“He (Phil) is 100% correct in the fact that the way the Tour is the way they are. They are for themselves, they are not for the players. They are not for growing anybody else except their own pockets.” Perez said.
“They all call themselves a non-profit (organisation) yet all they have is profit, so how does that work? The thing about what I was saying is Phil, yeah, Phil almost ruined the thing completely because of his comments about the deal.”
“Then guys got scared and were like ‘well this isn’t going to work now, Phil’s obviously turned, he’s saying this and this’. It couldn’t have been worse timing for the LIV group in that deal.”
“But like I said in my [previous] interview, I’m behind the Tour because I didn’t get an offer. I’d never talked to the LIV group in my entire life and then Tiger was against it – I’ve always looked up to him, but he wasn’t for it. But I didn’t have a deal.”
Money talks, however:
“Like I said, you offer me a good deal and I’m going because at this point in my life, at 46, you offer me enough cash – and I don’t have to play as much anymore, I’m out of there.”
“Phil and I had a little talk, funnily enough, the week before that all happened. Before all those comments came out, right after I did the podcast with Colt was when I think Phil was starting to get word on things that I knew. It’s not that I was really against or for it, I didn’t know enough about it and I wasn’t even considering it because I didn’t have an offer and I didn’t talk to anybody.”
Perez admitted, “Other than you [Harman] and DJ (Dustin Johnson), that’s the only reason I knew that something may have come in my direction.
“But the whole thing about me wearing out Phil has way more to do with the interaction or problem we had as opposed to him trying to beat up the Tour and going after a lot of money. That’s what needs to be clarified.”
More from the 19th Hole
- ‘Getting to a point where I just don’t give a s**t’ – Danielle Kang blasts greens at latest LPGA event
- Harry Styles has a smoother golf swing than you could ever imagine
- ‘WTF is a FIGJAM?’ – Greg Norman left confused by golf fan’s jibe involving infamous Mickelson nickname
- LIKE41
- LEGIT12
- WOW16
- LOL14
- IDHT4
- FLOP23
- OB20
- SHANK189
19th Hole
Brandel Chamblee has a surprising new take on the PGA Tour-LIV stand-off
One of the more outspoken analysts throughout the LIV Golf vs. PGA Tour saga has been Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee.
This week, Chamblee reversed course, saying he believes the PGA Tour should strike a deal with Saudi Arabia’s Private Investment Fund (PIF).
Golf Channel Brandel Chamblee in his biggest about-face since the Framework Agreement on June 6, now says that making a deal with the PIF "is the better end of the bargain."
He says:
"The PGA Tour is in this pickle like it or not, but, do you want to compete with someone (LIV… pic.twitter.com/XDZaC1I6B8
— JCAGOLFReport (@JCAGOLFReport) May 10, 2024
“The PGA Tour is in this pickle like it or not, but, do you want to compete with someone who’s not going to go away, who can outspend you”.
“Every move they make that makes their tour better deletes your tour and causes more division within the tour. So the time is now, to Rory’s point about making a deal, I wouldn’t have said that a year ago… but it is the better end of the bargain.”
Chamblee’s new stance seems to be in line with that of Rory McIlroy, who reportedly wanted to rejoin the PGA Tour board with hopes of pushing a deal with the PIF closer to the finish line.
Chamblee will be in the booth for next week’s PGA Championship which has 16 LIV players in the field.
More from the 19th Hole
- Phil Mickelson drops big retirement hint; Says LIV will grow the game “on a much more global basis”
- 2-time major champ announces shock retirement from the sport at age of 33
- Tiger explains why golf has “negative connotations” for daughter Sam
New here?
- LIKE20
- LEGIT5
- WOW3
- LOL0
- IDHT1
- FLOP3
- OB0
- SHANK25
19th Hole
Xander Schauffele explains free drop ruling during round one of Wells Fargo Championship
During Thursday’s opening round of the Wells Fargo Championship, Xander Schauffele blasted his tee shot in the woods to the right of the fairway on the par-4 8th hole.
The ball was almost not found, but Xander’s group managed to track it down just before the three-minute time limit was reached.
When the ball was found, it was just beyond the penalty area close to a fence. In the moment, it seemed incredibly unlikely that Schauffele would be able to hit the ball through the trees towards the green.
However, through the woods and above the fairway, there was a hanging wire from a ShotLink tower that Xander claimed was in his way. He was then granted relief, and two club lengths from the spot positioned him all the way out of trouble. He played his ball onto the front of the green and two-putted for par.
Here is the full video of the interaction between Schauffele and the rules official.
??? #WATCH — The full video of the Xander Schauffele #DropGate situation ?
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) May 9, 2024
After the round, Xander said he “got really lucky.”
“Got really lucky multiple times, on 1 with Wyndham finding it, 2, being able to move the rocks, and 3, the ShotLink tower being in like my only shot line possible. To walk out there with sort of a no breeze 4 with what I thought was almost out was a really good break.”
“Yeah, I hit it in the trees. My ball was probably like a foot, two feet from the fence. If I — ball was here, fence was kind of here, hitting back this direction.
“If I went towards the green, the fence kind of worked this way so I had what I could hit, a 4-iron or something low and just kind of run it through. If it gets stuck, I’ll just kind of hit my next one out. But I brought the rules official in there with me because I was like, you’ve got to be OK with this because this is literally the only shot I can hit.”
“So Austin [Kaiser] and I moved two massive rocks that weren’t embedded and then I got relief out of the junk and then hit a pretty good shot on the green from there. What was a very stressful moment turned into a pretty stressless par.”
Schauffele finished the round at seven under, which gives him a three-shot lead going into Friday’s second round.
More from the 19th Hole
- Phil Mickelson drops big retirement hint; Says LIV will grow the game “on a much more global basis”
- 2-time major champ announces shock retirement from the sport at age of 33
- Tiger explains why golf has “negative connotations” for daughter Sam
New here?
- LIKE7
- LEGIT4
- WOW3
- LOL1
- IDHT0
- FLOP1
- OB1
- SHANK11
19th Hole
Report: Tiger Woods voted against Rory McIlroy returning to policy board; Will be the only player negotiating directly with Saudis
According to a report from The Telegraph, the relationship between Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy has soured.
Last week, reports surfaced that McIlroy, who was a member of the PGA Tour policy board during most of the past few years, was looking to rejoin the board, presumably taking Webb Simpson’s seat.
However, on Wednesday, McIlroy revealed that he will not be rejoining the policy board, due to people on the board being “uncomfortable” with that “for some reason.”
Here's Rory McIlroy talking about the PGA Tour policy board and the "subset of people on the board that were maybe uncomfortable with me coming back on for some reason." pic.twitter.com/0skNOwtWxz
— Patrick McDonald (@pmcdonaldCBS) May 8, 2024
The Telegraph has reported that Tiger Woods was among the players who voted against McIlroy returning to the policy board.
The divide is apparently due to McIlroy pushing for the game of golf to unify, whereas Woods, reportedly, believes the PGA Tour is in a fine position where it currently stands.
The Associated Press added another wrinkle to the situation, reporting that Woods is the only player who will be negotiating directly with the Saudis.
The other members of the committee are PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, board chairman Joe Gorder, John W. Henry of Fenway Sports Group, and Joe Ogilvie, who was a former PGA Tour player.
- LIKE29
- LEGIT6
- WOW12
- LOL6
- IDHT1
- FLOP3
- OB2
- SHANK30
-
19th Hole3 weeks ago
Justin Thomas on the equipment choice of Scottie Scheffler that he thinks is ‘weird’
-
19th Hole3 weeks ago
‘Absolutely crazy’ – Major champ lays into Patrick Cantlay over his decision on final hole of RBC Heritage
-
19th Hole2 weeks ago
LET pro gives detailed financial breakdown of first week on tour…and the net result may shock you
-
19th Hole3 days ago
Report: LIV star turns down PGA Championship invite due to ‘personal commitments’
-
19th Hole1 week ago
Gary Player claims this is what ‘completely ruined’ Tiger Woods’ career
-
Whats in the Bag2 weeks ago
Team McIlowry (Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry) winning WITBs: 2024 Zurich Classic
-
Equipment1 week ago
Golf fans left surprised by LIV’s choice of course for its 2024 individual championship event
-
19th Hole1 week ago
LIV star splits with swing coach after working together for 14 years