ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — Phil Mickelson said he respects Tiger Woods’ opinion on LIV Golf after the 15-time major champion said those who joined the breakaway series had “turned their back on what has allowed them to get to this position.”
Mickelson carded even-par Thursday in his first round at The Open at St. Andrews. While it’s the 150th edition of the famous championship, the hot topic this week has been about the ongoing dispute among the various stakeholders over LIV Golf and the golfers who defected to the new series.
When asked Tuesday about LIV Golf, Woods said, “I disagree with it. I think that what they’ve done is they’ve turned their back on what has allowed them to get to this position.”
“I certainly respect his opinion,” Mickelson said Thursday. “I have a lot of respect for him. I respect his opinion. I think everybody’s going to have strong emotions and opinions about it, and I certainly respect his.”
Mickelson did not attend the 150th Open celebrations earlier in the week, including the Monday’s Celebrations of Champions and Tuesday’s champions’ dinner. Previous winners of The Open were invited, and despite taking the 2013 Open at Muirfield, Mickelson was a notable absentee.
“The R&A contacted me a couple weeks before and said, ‘Look, we don’t think it’s a great idea you go [to the celebrations], but if you want to, you can,'” Mickelson said. “I just didn’t want to make a big deal about it, so I said fine. We both kind of agreed that it would be best if I didn’t.”
Mickelson also missed the champions’ dinners at the Masters and the PGA Championship.
Despite the behind-the-scenes disagreements over the future of the sport after the introduction of LIV Golf, Mickelson said he “couldn’t be happier” with his decision to join the new series, which is being financed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
“I made the right decision for me,” Mickelson said. “And I’m excited about, like I say, having the opportunity to play competitive golf and have it…
Source : espn
