Phil Mickleson has claimed LIV Golf is “loved” outside the USA and UK as he tried to re-write history before teeing up in Saudi Arabia on Friday.
The six-time Major winner risked sinking the breakaway league earlier this year when he told a journalist that the Saudi backers were “scary motherf*****s to get involved with”. Mickelson had thought the conversation was off the record - which was later denied by the reporter - and apologised before taking a break from the game.
Before the seventh LIV Golf event in Jeddah this weekend, LIV players have continued their campaign to be awarded ranking points for the events. But the triple Masters champion, who accepted $200m to join the rebel tour in June, was asked if he had changed his opinion on the Kingdom.
“So I will reiterate, I never did an interview with Alan Shipnuck,” he said. “And I find that my experience with everybody associated with LIV Golf has been nothing but incredibly positive and I have the utmost respect for everybody that I've been involved with.”
LIV Golf has continued to attract criticism over Saudi Arabia’s human rights record with pressure group Reprieve targeting Mickelson, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter on social media to implore them to speak up about Abdullah al-Howaiti. Now 20, he faces the death penalty after he claims he was tortured at the age of 14 to confess to a murder.
Peter Frankental, Amnesty International UK’s Economic Affairs Director, said: “LIV Golf is awash with Saudi money designed to rebrand the country in a none-too-subtle attempt at sportswashing, and we’d like to see golfers who are playing in Jeddah countering this by speaking out about human rights abuses.”
But the American claimed that golf is “very lucky” to have the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) - which also owns Newcastle United - investing in the game: “The sport of the game of golf is being influxed with billions of dollars now,” Mickelson said. ““Now the United States and the U.K. are not favourable to this. But everywhere outside of the world LIV Golf is loved. And eventually they come around and they will be accepting of it.”
“But everywhere else in the world, I've spoken with people that have had dealings that have not been positive with the TOUR and have had nothing but positive experience with LIV. It opens up opportunities to move professional golf throughout the world in other countries and grow the game internationally.
“Now, again, outside a few countries, the United States and the U.K., where it's very negatively viewed currently, that has been changing and evolving already and in time in a few years it will be not only accepted but appreciated the involvement and the influx of capital into this sport and what it's doing.”
