Phil Mickelson’s biographer Alan Shipnuck was ejected from the media area at the inaugural LIV Golf event in London - and revealed a stunning text exchange with series boss Greg Norman.
The controversial LIV Golf series made its anticipated debut at The Centurion Club in St Albans, just outside London, with the likes of Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia and Dustin Johnson headlining a ragtag field. After play concluded on Thursday evening, the historic day took a dramatic twist.
Alan Shipnuck, the author of ‘Phil: The Rip-Roaring (and Unauthorized!) Biography of Golf’s Most Colorful Superstar’, was removed from the flash interview area. The biographer had followed Mickelson during his opening round at the LIV Golf event, but was not allowed to join as Mickelson spoke to members of the press.
Shipnuck had previously revealed he had been denied credentials when LIV Golf organisers refused to reply to his request, only for the author to purchase a ticket and cover the event in person regardless.
Shipnuck, a partner for The Fire Pit Collective, took to Twitter to relay the news, writing: “Well, a couple of neckless security dudes just physically removed me from Phil Mickelson’s press conference, saying they were acting on orders from their boss, whom they refused to name. (Greg Norman? MBS? Al Capone?) Never a dull moment up in here.”
Mirror Sport has contacted LIV Golf for comment.
Golfweek reportedly reached out to Shipnuck, who replied he was ‘credentialed and I was standing in the flash area at the start of Phil’s presser’ when he was escorted out. Shipnuck then texted LIV Golf commissioner Norman (pictured below) to address the incident, with the Australian claiming he had not heard about it.
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The author did not know that Norman was standing right behind him, watching the entire moment unfold before his eyes. Shipnuck tweeted the image with the caption: “You cannot make this s**t up! I texted Greg Norman before someone sent me this video - I had no idea he was lurking behind me.”
Shipnuck may have been escorted away from Mickelson after he released an excerpt of the golfer’s controversial words surrounding the PGA Tour and Saudi Golf League back in February 2022 following a conversation the pair had back in November 2021. After interviewing more than 200 subjects for his new book on Mickelson that hit the shelves last month, Shipnuck claims Mickelson called the Saudis ‘scary motherf***ers’ and suggested their money had finally given him and the players leverage to take on the PGA Tour.
After the uproar, the six-time major champion took a four-month break from the sport but emerged on Monday evening this week to announce he would be joining the controversial new Saudi-backed LIV Golf series.
