Connect with us

19th Hole

Phil Mickelson reveals why he won’t accept Brandel Chamblee’s offer to debate with him on Golf Channel

Published

4 months ago

on

A couple of weeks ago, Phil Mickelson admitted he had been a “bit chippy” on Twitter recently. That hasn’t stopped him though, and last week he escalated the war of words between confirmed anti-LIV analyst Brandel Chamblee and himself, with support led by Brooks Koepka’s coach.

2022 saw much of LIV derided for having players now incapable of competing in major championships. Now, after many placings at Augusta, and Koepka’s win at the PGA Championship, the tide is beginning to turn, summed up by Lefty’s comment on his favourite social media site:

Soon after the victory, Koepka’s coach Claude Harmon gave his view of the ‘pay-to-play’ model, saying, “I want LIV to succeed and I want LIV to work because I am pro-professional athlete,” confirming his belief that the top golfers should be paid whatever the result.

He then took a swipe at Golf Channel’s Chamblee and golf journalist Eamon Lynch for their constant jabbing at the source of income for the rebel tour.

“Brandel is a paid actor by NBC and Golf Channel. All he’s trying to do is get his lines and shows for the Golf Channel. He’s just trying to get lines for Brandel … And I mean, I love him, I think Eamon is a fantastic writer, but for Eamon Lynch and Brandel Chamblee, who worked for NBC Golf Channel to utter the words ‘sports washing’ when the company they work for televised the last two Winter Olympics in Russia and China with the same leaders that they’ve had. It’s not like they were good leaders back then. It’s not like Putin was a good guy, right?”

Where Chamblee was happy to argue on television about the LIV/Ryder Cup debate, he is as happy as Mickelson to state his case on-line, most notably concentrating again in ‘sports-washing, ‘ denying he is a “proxy for the opinion of my employer, ” amidst a 500-plus word post that included a swipe at Harmon.

“Especially, as in the case of the person who called me a paid actor, if they can somehow profit from the evil. This is where the debate crashes headfirst into the nexus of politics, sports and narcissistic greed. Where those who want to escape it most often cloy at whataboutisms, to stop the discussion with a pejorative accusation because they don’t want their motives to be discovered.”

“So while Brooks Koepka’s win at the PGA Championship was impressive, it should not distract us from the simple fact that LIV players are being used for the benefit of some very bad people and to the detriment of a great many more good people. That LIV Golf, with its inability to develop stars and seeking to buy them like high performance cars, is undermining the dignity intrinsic in golf.”

That’s when Mickelson steps in and, after a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, starts the fire by posting,

“Poor Brandel. He can rip apart me and countless others, but as soon as someone shows his ignorance, he can’t handle it. He’s softer now than he was as a player.”

That was enough (again) for Chamblee, who got even more personal, highlighting the imminent release of the book by convicted insider trader Billy Walters, and his relationship with the six-time major champion. 

 

As NUCLR Golf tried to sum up the entire episode, Mickelson then revealed another twist – his fierce rival had blocked him!

On Saturday, midway through LIV Golf DC, Phil was back, seemingly notifying all that he would be even more vocal in future.

Asked if he would go on-screen to debate, Mickelson was clear that he wouldn’t be going to Chamblee’s ‘house’:

More from the 19th Hole

Your Reaction?
  • 71
  • LEGIT8
  • WOW5
  • LOL9
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP1
  • OB0
  • SHANK32

Related Topics:
9 Comments

9 Comments

  1. Ken

    Jun 3, 2023 at 8:12 am

    Does brander know pif is the second largest shareholder of Twitter? Every time he tweets, he’s supporting the Saudi regime

    Reply Report comment

  2. Paul

    May 30, 2023 at 5:44 pm

    Brandel is a tool. Go after the NBA and Hollywood for China money, or F1 racing with an extreme budget of Saudi money. Brandel never made it as a golfer and is nothing in sports, which is why he keeps chiding the top players.

    Reply Report comment

    • Oldlefty70

      Jun 1, 2023 at 1:49 pm

      ?!

      Reply Report comment

      • Oldlefty70

        Jun 1, 2023 at 1:54 pm

        Sorry nothing intended with the question mark! I attempted to post a bullseye! Post doesn’t accept emoji’s…agree 100%!

        Reply Report comment

  3. PhilLacksIntegrity

    May 30, 2023 at 1:14 pm

    Phil is just too weenie to debate Chamblee because he knows Chamblee is right about licv sporwashing.

    Reply Report comment

  4. Nick Phaldo

    May 30, 2023 at 12:30 pm

    Brandel as usual is right in everything he has to say and should be applauded for standing up for what’s good for the game of golf . Unfortunately Phil has lost his way (amongst a lot of other things) and shows how false he is by not accepting the invitation .

    Reply Report comment

  5. Tim

    May 30, 2023 at 10:17 am

    Way to go Phil! Go after him and shut him down – Brandel should have a seat on the view with the other ladies and disappear from the Golf Channel. Cannot stand that guy and when he comes on – I go to another channel.

    Just a horrible representation of PGA Tour Golf in my eyes!!

    Reply Report comment

  6. Pingback: Phil Mickelson reveals why he won’t accept Brandel Chamblee’s offer to debate with him on Golf Channel - SOCAL Golfer

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

19th Hole

‘It was devastating’ – Keegan Bradley reveals the call he got that made him believe he was on Ryder Cup team

Published

2 hours ago

on

Sep 21, 2023

By

This week, Keegan Bradley was a guest on the Foreplay Podcast. The 37-year-old was one of the players who seemingly narrowly missed a spot on the Ryder Cup team, and shared a heart wrenching story of how it all went down.

Apparently, Zach Johnson texted all of the players in consideration for a Captain’s pick that they’d be getting a call the following day about whether or not they’ve made the team.

When the next day arrived, Keegan got a call from Netflix, who said “Keegan, we got a camera crew five minutes from your house.”

At that moment, Bradley let himself believe that meant he was going to be heading to Rome for the Ryder Cup.

“Why would they be sending a camera crew if I’m not to get picked? For the first time, I let my brain think I did it.”

He then said he knew immediately by the tone of Zach’s voice that he wasn’t going to be picked.

“It was devastating.”

You can catch the full episode here.

More from the 19th Hole

Your Reaction?
  • 1
  • LEGIT0
  • WOW2
  • LOL0
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP0
  • OB0
  • SHANK2

Continue Reading

19th Hole

Brooks Koepka explains why he understood the case for and against picking Dustin Johnson for the Ryder Cup

Published

10 hours ago

on

Sep 21, 2023

By

Brooks Koepka is the lone LIV golfer in next week’s Ryder Cup. This will be the 33-year-old’s fourth Ryder Cup, and second in Europe. In his three prior Ryder Cups, Koepka is 6-5-1 overall, including 2-0-1 in singles matches.

Koepka was extremely close to being an automatic qualifier but slipped out of the final spot during the FedEx Cup playoffs.

The five-time major champion spoke about his Ryder Cup preparation prior to this week’s LIV Chicago event, in which he will be taking a flight to Rome directly after.

“My whole mindset has been to practice for (the Ryder Cup) the last few weeks. I mean, look, I think it’s one of the top six, seven biggest sporting events you can have. It’s a little bit more eyeballs, a little bit more pressure.”

When asked if he “plays for legacy” now after all he’s accomplished, Koepka said “I think everybody remembers their record”.

“I think everybody remembers their record, or that’s kind of what you’re known by, wins, losses. Poulter has pretty much made a career on that. Yeah, I think you can.”

While speaking with Sports Illustrated this week, Brooks was asked about the fact that Dustin Johnson, who went 5-0 at Whistling Straits in 2021, was not chosen as a captains pick this time around.

“I get the case for DJ. He played great the last time, played great last year. Hasn’t really played that great this year … or hasn’t played to DJ’s standard. That’s a better way to put that. And he didn’t play well in the majors. So I can see why he didn’t get a pick. But if they had picked him, it’s DJ and I could see that one as well.”

Although there will be no other LIV players in Rome, Koepka said he’s not worried about who he plays with and can “play with anybody”.

“I can play with anybody, and I will play with anybody.”

It will be interesting to see who Koepka is paired with next week at Marco Simone.

More from the 19th Hole

Your Reaction?
  • 3
  • LEGIT3
  • WOW0
  • LOL0
  • IDHT1
  • FLOP0
  • OB0
  • SHANK1

Continue Reading

19th Hole

Free agent Matt Fitzpatrick explains why he can’t play golf clubs made by these two manufacturers

Published

10 hours ago

on

Sep 21, 2023

By

The 2022 U.S. Open Champion, Matt Fitzpatrick, is currently an equipment free agent. He recently sat down with GolfMagic to discuss why he isn’t tied down with a manufacturer and what his outlook is going forward.

“I struggle with TaylorMade and Callaway clubs because of the way their woods and hybrids are designed. The soles aren’t very good for me so my interaction with the turf is terrible with those. Until that changes, I’d never be able to get on with them. PING and Titleist have always been a little bit better for me.”

With TaylorMade and Callaway off the table, Fitzpatrick is currently using Titleist TSi3 and is also experimenting with a Titleist TSR3.

According to the photos captured by GolfMagic, Fitz is still using his Bettinardi BB1 Fitz, but also has a different Bettinardi prototype he’s experimenting with in Rome.

With tight fairways at Marco Simone, the Englishman will be hoping that whichever driver he chooses keeps him in the fairway at next week’s Ryder Cup.

More from the 19th Hole

Your Reaction?
  • 12
  • LEGIT6
  • WOW3
  • LOL4
  • IDHT2
  • FLOP0
  • OB1
  • SHANK9

Continue Reading

WITB

Whats in the Bag4 hours ago

Kevin Tway WITB 2023 (September)

Kevin Tway what’s in the bag accurate as of the Fortinet Championship. More photos from the event here. Driver: Titleist...
Whats in the Bag6 hours ago

Fred Biondi WITB 2023 (September)

Fred Biondi what’s in the bag accurate as of the Fortinet Championship. More photos from the event here. Driver: Callaway...
Whats in the Bag1 day ago

Preston Summerhays WITB 2023 (September)

Preston Summerhays what’s in the bag accurate as of the Fortinet Championship. More photos from the event here. Driver: Ping...
Whats in the Bag1 day ago

Henry Chung WITB 2023 (September)

Henry Chung what’s in the bag accurate as of the Fortinet Championship. More photos from the event here. Driver: Titleist...

Facebook

Trending