LIV boss tells Mickelson exactly what he thinks of | Golf News

LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil hopes Phil Mickelson “comes back soon,” as the six-time major champion misses another event due to an undisclosed personal matter.

Mickelson has performed just once this season — LIV Golf South Africa in March — due to a “family health matter,” which pressured him to withdraw forward of the Masters last month. The soon-to-be 56-year-old has also pulled out of next week’s PGA Championship at Aronimink.

Mickelson has stored the main points behind his absence out of the public eye, although he stays lively on social media, often weighing in on politics, notably with blistering barbs aimed at high-profile Democrats.

In Mickelson’s absence, LIV has been plunged into chaos with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) confirming it should terminate its financial help at the end of the season.

O’Neil and his executives have been left scrambling for new buyers to keep the league in operation next yr, and Mickelson stays among the league’s most marketable stars.

He was also essential in the formation of the league 4 years in the past, working as a figurehead alongside Greg Norman to pressure the breakaway from the PGA Tour.

But he isn’t on the ground at Trump National Golf Club close to Washington D.C. for LIV Golf Virginia this week, and it doesn’t seem doubtless that he will make an imminent return.

“I talked to Phil yesterday, ‘Sorry you can’t make it today.’ I just want to be really sensitive. We all have things going on in our lives that are personal, and his is,” O’Neil told reporters.

“I have a lot of love and respect for him as a human being, and certainly have respect for him for what he’s accomplished in his career, and his presence is really helpful. So I hope he comes back soon.

“I’ll let you know that his presence is missed. I miss him, I miss his presence at occasions. He carries a ton of weight in every room he walks. That’s not only because he’s a six-time major champion, but he’s received gravitas, and that comes with one thing that’s method past successful. Yes, he’s one of the fellows serving to me, of course.”

O’Neil says Mickelson is part of a core of senior players who will play a defining role as the league fights for survival. He added: “The good news is that they’re all with me. They’re under contract, so I’ve them. So they’re right here. And we have now occasions like this where we get to spend time, and there’s no better place for them to make a dwelling and do it within their contract than they’re proper right here. So it really works out actually properly.

“We have ongoing dialogue. We have relationships. We’re very fortunate. We have several general managers in the room here, we have extraordinary executives we get to work with, and they lead and manage their players and teams. So we have a good order of operation here.

“I’m not sure I perceive the depth of the query. Like there are companions in this business, so it is fairly different in that we do not sit above them, we sit next to them. This is a for-us, by-us league. Our competitors committee really is pushed by the gamers. This is like self-policing going on right here. This is a tour, a league that is about the gamers.

“So for us, going to market, we’re going to market with them. There’s no daylight between what I’ll know and what Bryson [DeChambeau] or Jon [Rahm] or Phil or Bubba [Watson] or Cam [Smith] or [Dustin Johnson] will know. We’re together as one.”