19th Hole
Report: Details of Mickelson’s ‘deeply offensive’ act against Pat Perez are ‘so inflammatory’
Rumors have been swirling about a feud between two of LIV Golf’s most polarizing players.
According to Pat Perez, Phil Mickelson did something “unforgiveable” that’s resulted in Perez having a deep-seated hatred for the 43-time PGA Tour winner.
In an appearance on Claude Harmon’s “Son of a Butch” podcast, Perez outlined his issues with Mickelson, but refused to go into further detail about exactly what happened.
“When it comes to Phil, I have a different hate for Phil than most people,” Perez told Harmon. “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 apologized for the action, but I cannot forgive him for it because I’ve known Phil for a long, long time. I’ve known the guy forever. And the fact that when he made this action, not only was it—he had intentions of doing it; 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?’
Now, thanks to Alan Shipnuck, who wrote the controversial biography on Mickelson, we have some more information on the Perez/Mickelson feud. In a reader Q and A, a reader (@Mfurlong) asked Shipnuck if he knew anything about the beef between the two.
“What’s the Pat Perez/Phil dust-up about? I read once in a detective novel that, “All crime is about sex or money.” My bet is sex … you??”
Shipnuck responded to the question, and said the details were too inflammatory to share without confirming with Perez himself.
“Well, it ain’t about money. In the course of reporting my book on Mickelson I kept hearing of his rift with Perez, a fellow San Diego native. They have a lot of history. Perez has always fancied himself a Tiger guy, which means he has never been warm and cuddly toward Phil. But what inspired Perez to spout off on various podcasts lately was Mickelson doing something that deeply offended Perez and his wife Ashley. I approached Pat a couple of times to see if he’d go on-record, but he declined. I had a handful of players and caddies tell me they heard of the incident directly from Perez, but the details are so inflammatory I didn’t feel comfortable putting the story in the book without direct confirmation. This whole situation is still clearly festering with Perez so we’ll see if he chooses to make the details public; if so, that will certainly set off a firestorm.”
Although it’s still unclear what happened between Perez and Mickelson, the confirmation that players and caddies have spoken about it to Alan Shipnuck gives me the feeling the truth will eventually come out.
Just what golf needs, more drama.
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19th Hole
3-time PGA Tour winner calls for LIV to buy Champions Tour to fix ‘joke’ purses
While speaking on the Subpar podcast, former PGA Tour winner and current PGA Tour Champions player Chris DiMarco said he hopes LIV buys the Champions Tour.
“We’re kind of hoping that LIV buys the Champions Tour,” he said.
“Let’s play for a little real money out here. I mean this is kind of a joke when we’re getting $2 million. There were like seven guys last week from TPC (Sawgrass, at the $25 million PLAYERS Championship) that made more money than our purses.”
In 2024, the Champions Tour had a total of $67 million in prize money over the course of 24 events.
DiMarco also defended LIV players for taking the money and said he would take it also.
“They wanted to play for a lot of money, and they deserve it. They have had some great careers, why not go and get some money?”
DiMarco also offered insight on Graeme McDowell’s move to LIV.
“I saw Graeme McDowell at the Old Memorial Pro Member, and he goes, ‘Listen, I went up to Jay Monahan and said I love the tour but I am struggling to keep my card and these guys are offering me all this money and less golf. I’m sorry, I’m going.’ And I do not blame him one bit, and I said I would have too.”
DiMarco was ranked as high as 6th in the world in 2006.
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19th Hole
‘It won’t win you golf tournaments’ – Golf analyst rips Charley Hull’s course management
Charley Hull came just short of her third LPGA Tour victory over the weekend at the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship when she played her last two holes at 3 over to slip all the way to 10th on the leaderboard.
After the round, Hull was blasted by Sky Sports commentator and former LPGA Tour player Trish Johnson for her lack of golf course management.
While speaking on the Sky Sports Golf podcast, Johnson spoke harshly of Hull.
“I’m probably her harshest critic, because I know how good she is. She doesn’t win anywhere near enough for her talent, and she doesn’t get involved enough, in all honestly.
“The thing with Charley is that you’re never going to change her. I read something the other day that said how much she loves the game and it’s her love of the game [that costs her]. She’s never going to change and she’s just going to go for every pin.
“In theory that’s great, but it won’t win you golf tournaments, it just won’t because she’s not that much better than anybody else. If you put Charley against Nelly Korda, then I’m picking Nelly every single day of the week.”
Johnson also made a fascinating comparison between Hull and a famous male golfer, John Daly.
“Golf-wise that’s the way she plays the game and it’s a little bit like watching John Daly I suppose.”
“There’s something that John Daly had that made him a major winner and a winner, but Charley is kind of lacking that. Her talent is not in question, but maybe her application is. Maybe it’s just the case of her never changing and that will cost her golf tournaments, there’s no two ways about it. You cannot go for every pin because that’s the way you play and it being fun, as other players are better than that and you have to have course management.”
Hull is still only 27, and therefore has plenty of time to work on her flaws to achieve the success her talent should allow.
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19th Hole
Former agent lifts lid on being fired by ‘zombie’ Tiger Woods
Discussing his new book “Rainmaker” with the Daily Mail, Tiger Woods’ former agent, Hughes Norton, recounted the events leading up to and after his split with the 15-time major champion.
Norton was abruptly fired by Woods in 1998 after his 1997 Masters win and monster deal with Nike.
In the book, Norton talks about the way Tiger views his relationships, calling him a “zombie.”
“The solace I can take, which doesn’t provide much, is this: He was an equal opportunity zombie with relationships, his swing coaches, his lawyer, the guy negotiated the IMG representation deal, with caddies, When it’s over, it’s over.”
Norton added:
“It is the way he terminates relationships with everyone. Whether it’s girlfriends, whether it’s his former golf coaches. It’s ironic, really. In a way he’s so good at confrontation on the golf course. If he’s playing you, he will beat your brains out every single time.
“But when it comes to confronting things like me and other people that are in his life, he has no social skills whatsoever. It’s maddening, actually.”
After he was fired by Woods, Norton was let go by IMG, which he believes was due to Woods’ influence.
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