The PGA Tour has told Phil Mickelson he must speak to commissioner Jay Monahan before he resumes his garlanded career on the circuit – but he has also been warned that a suspension remains on the table.
Mickelson, 51, has taken a self-enforced break in the wake of his controversial comments supporting the Saudis’ Super Golf League plans and is thus missing from The Players, which starts here on Thursday.
But listening to Monahan in his annual state of the game address on Tuesday, it is anything but certain he would have been welcome to compete anyway. In all the mystery and confusion, the Masters, in three weeks’ time, suddenly seems a doubt for Mickelson even if he wants to tee it up at Augusta.
“Phil stepped away on his own accord, and he’s asked for time,” Monahan said. “He’s been given that time. We don’t comment on disciplinary matters, potential matters or actual matters. But every player is accountable for their actions out here…
“The ball is in his court. I would welcome a phone call from him. But it’s hard for me to talk about the different scenarios that could play out.
“Listen, he’s a player that’s won 45 times on the PGA Tour. He’s inspired a lot of people and helped grow this Tour, his Tour. So as difficult as it is to read some of the things that were said, ultimately a conversation will be had when he’s ready – and I will be ready.”
It would be an interesting conversation to eavesdrop, that is for sure. How would Mickelson explain accusing the Tour of “obnoxious greed”, of “running a dictatorship” – and of essentially working against the Tour by paying lawyers to draw up a players’ operating plan for the SGL?
And the Sheikhs, themselves, would surely find it fascinating to hear Mickelson expand on the statements made in a forthcoming book that the Saudis are “scary motherf—–s to be involved with” and that he has only managed to overlook the country’s “horrible record on human rights” in order to gain leverage over the PGA Tour in his media rights row..
Mickelson did go on to issue an apology, but interestingly only to the Saudis and to his sponsors, who proceeded to leave him in droves regardless. There was absolutely no contrition expressed to the Tour on which he has amassed almost $100 million in on-course earnings alone.
There is no doubt that, under its constitution, the Tour already has enough with which to ban Mickelson, but the fact that Monahan revealed that he has not spoken to Mickelson since his explosive remarks became public suggests that no action has been taken. Yet.
It was ironic that on the day the Tour repeated its policy not to discuss disciplinary matters, Rory McIlroy took them to task over exactly that secrecy. “The one thing that the Tour could do a better job at is transparency,” McIlroy said earlier in the morning, but not in connection to Mickelson. “I’ve always felt that the bans or suspensions should all be announced.”
By and large, however, Mcilroy is a huge fan of Monahan and played a vocal role in helping to quash the SGL’s first attempts to lure the top players.
With the entire world top 10 all pledging loyalty to the status quo, Greg Norman – the Australian legend who is spearheading the kingdom’s mission – has been forced to regroup, albeit with a blistering attack against Monahan, saying he “bullied” the players with threats of lifetime bans.
The Saudis are sure to come again, but Monahan was bullish as 46 of the world’s top 50 prepared on the Stadium Course for an event boasting a record $20 million purse. “We are in a position where no one can compete with what we have,” Monahan said.