Thousands of miles from TPC Scottsdale, where fans are getting revved up for the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Phil Mickelson spent his Wednesday at the Saudi International pro-am with a group of men looking to shape golf’s future. The grouping, as reported in the Scotsman, drew international attention because of its ties to the Premier Golf League, the name being used for a proposed global tour that promises hefty payouts for a small percentage of golf’s superstars.
Mickelson broke a 30-year streak of appearances at the Tour’s Phoenix stop to play the Saudi International. His presence at the European Tour event at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club in Saudi Arabia this week – along with other top American players like Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson and Patrick Reed – is controversial in itself in the wake of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s 2018 murder.
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The Premier Golf League is also a hot-button issue because it would operate in direct conflict with the PGA Tour schedule as it offered colossal purses to 48 of the world’s top players. The Associated Press reported this week that PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan sent a memo to Tour players that made it clear they could not be a member of both entities.
It seemed hardly coincidental that Mickelson, an influential figure in the game, would be paired with men in a position to educate him about the proposed league.
Mickelson’s pro-am playing partners were identified by the Scotsman as Majed Al-Sorour, CEO of the Saudi Golf Federation; Colin Neville, a sports consultant for the New York-based Raine Group, a partner in the Premier Golf League bid; and London financier Andrew Gardiner, a director at Barclays Capital.
According to the Scotsman, Mickelson spoke with reporters at the end of the day about his on-course conversations.
“It was fascinating to talk with them and ask some questions and see what their plans are,” he said. “Where they started, how they started, why and just got their background, which was very interesting.”
Mickelson called it an informative day, and one during which he asked a lot of questions, even if he hadn’t “had the chance to put it all together and think about what I want to say about it publicly.”
Chief among Mickelson’s concerns about the Premier Golf League, as he told reporters, was whether it would be a setup beneficial to fans, sponsors and television.
