On Tuesday, the six-time winner Mickelson said comments he made about the reported tour were unpublishable – a claim denied by his interviewee – and said they were shared out of context and without his consent.
The Super League is said to be a Saudi-backed project trying to lure golfers away from the main rounds of golf, the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour, with big-money offers.
Last week, Mickelson was quoted from a 2021 interview with author Alan Shipnock about his upcoming book, “Phil: The Rip-Roaring (and Unauthorized!) The Biography of Golf’s Most Colorful Star,” as saying he would consider joining the proposed Super League. Because it’s “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour works.”
Four-time PGA Tour winner Daniel Berger says Mickelson “deserves a second chance” if he regrets his comments.
“I don’t know much about everything Saudi. I try not to pay attention to him,” he said.
“I think it’s kind of hype, but my experiences with Phil in the past have been good experiences and I think everyone deserves a second chance, so if he genuinely regrets what he said, I think he deserves a second chance.”
Since Mickelson’s comments, several other high-profile golfers – including Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau – have reiterated their commitment to the PGA Tour, with Berger now following suit.
“I have always been behind the tour. I think the commissioner [Jay] Monahan said he is the right man for the job. I think he did a great job through Covid, something that people haven’t given him enough credit for, which he was able to do in such difficult times.
“There is no one I trust more to guide the Tour through all these difficult times and I think he has done a great job. I love where the Tour is going. I love the new initiatives that have been brought up.”
Four-time winner Brooks Koepka says he “sneaked out” of Mickelson’s comments and remains “happy with the PGA Tour,” but he doesn’t think it’s the last players and fans will hear about a breakaway tour.
“I think everyone here is happy,” he said. “he is [Mickelson] He can think whatever he wants to think, man, he can do whatever he wants. So I think everyone here is happy and I think a lot of people here have the same opinion.
“I do not [think talk of the breakaway league is over]. “Everyone talks about money. They did it [Saudi Arabia] I got enough of it. I don’t see it going back. They can just double up and they’ll find out. They will get their youth. Someone will sell everything they have and go for it.”