Golf legend Fred Couples has fired a shot at Phil Mickelson and insisted he will never speak to the icon again after he left the PGA Tour for the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series.
The highly-anticipated LIV Golf series made its debut at The Centurion Club in St Albans last month, with the likes of Dustin Johnson, Lee Westwood, and Sergio Garcia joining Mickelson in headlining a mixed field in terms of big name pull and talent. Charl Schwartzel, the 2011 Masters champion, secured a one-stroke victory and a £3.86 million payout - more than the £2.56 million awarded to Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick for securing the coveted US Open title last month.
The second LIV Golf event is underway in Portland, Oregon and the field showcases nine of the last 21 major winners, four former World No. 1 players and nearly half of the field currently ranked in the top 100. Mickelson exiled himself away from golf after his comments regarding the Saudi regime and their human rights record, but emerged to still join LIV Golf ahead of its inaugural event outside London.
Couples, who is captaining the US squad at the Icons Series in New Jersey this week, admitted he is ‘disappointed’ to see players join LIV Golf as the Saudi Arabian government is bankrolling the series, and they have all been essentially muzzled. The former Masters champion is particularly disappointed in six-time major champion Mickelson.
“I don't think I'll ever talk to him again,” Couples told Golf.com. “What for? I'm not in the same boat as him anymore, and probably never will play golf with him again.
“I’m not saying that to be mean. We're just in different orbits.”
When pressed on his comments regarding the ‘muzzling’ of the LIV Golf recruits, Couples added: “These guys - you've seen their interviews, right? Have you ever seen Phil look so stupid in his life?
“They know it's a joke. They're all saying they want to change golf; they're doing it for the better of golf.”
Mickelson is perhaps the leading name among a group of high-profile players to have ditched the PGA Tour to join the LIV series, as names including Johnson, Kevin Na and Brooks Koepka have followed suits. Each player to have defected has been banned by the PGA Tour.
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Couples believe his family would ‘disown’ him if he left the PGA Tour to join the controversial new series. He declared: “I think this is a family thing for me.’
“I'm a little peon from Seattle, but I know where the money's coming from, and I think my family would disown me if I went. Of course, that's easy for me to say because I'm not going, so I can actually tell you whatever I want to tell you.”
Players will compete in golf’s new format for £20 million and the chance to become the second individual and team champions for LIV Golf. The Saudi-backed LIV series is the most lucrative golf tournament in history, which has been the key point attracting star names.
The eight-event series, which is funded by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), has a prize pot of just over £200m for 2022, while an extra £1.6 billion has reportedly been secured to expand the event to a 14-event league by 2024.
