Phil Mickelson crosses the line, the Super Golf League implodes in four days, Joaquin Niemann beats the best field of the year so far, Tiger Woods returns (to hosting duties) and more in this week’s edition of Monday Scramble:
In one bombastic interview, Phil Mickelson managed to tarnish his reputation, alienate his peers on the PGA Tour and torpedo his own plans with the Saudi-backed Super Golf League.
It was efficient if not effective.
Among the many eye-popping admissions – including that he’s willing to overlook Saudi Arabia’s numerous human-rights violations to gain leverage with the Tour – Mickelson revealed to golf writer and author Alan Shipnuck that three yet-to-be-named players helped draw up plans for the rival tour. That means he isn’t just contemplating joining a breakaway league – he’s helping build it.
That revelation could subject him to discipline from the Tour (if it hasn’t already), and it didn’t go unnoticed by his peers that he competed neither in Phoenix nor Los Angeles, two frequent stops throughout his career. Mickelson is qualified but not yet committed to The Players, played in three weeks in the backyard of Tour headquarters. It’s possible, if not likely, that we don’t see him again until the Masters.
On the other front, surely the organizers of the proposed Super Golf League couldn’t have been thrilled that Mickelson called the Saudis “scary motherf---ers” and admitted that he wasn’t sure whether he even wanted the venture to succeed. It’s reasonable to think that his outlandish comments spooked some of the folks who were at least considering following the Hall of Famer into the unknown.
Wanting to galvanize a group that is either frustrated with the status quo or merely looking to cash in, Mickelson’s diatribe seems to instead have had the opposite effect. That book interview, coupled with the media-rights rant about the Tour’s “obnoxious greed,” neutered the rival tour before it even launched and could land him in the Tour penalty box.
Mickelson has gone more than a week without any public comment, and it’ll be fascinating to see how he spins this episode publicly. In theory, he could take a page out of his playbook from Gleneagles, where he intentionally blasted 2014 captain Tom Watson to help blow up a failing U.S. Ryder Cup system. But few should believe this time that he’s simply a martyr trying to improve the working conditions of the Tour. This saga was entirely self-serving; Rory McIlroy on Sunday called him “naïve, selfish, egotistical, ignorant,” an indication that Lefty may have a hard time winning back the locker room.
One by one, in what felt like an orchestrated effort, the top players voiced their support for the PGA Tour at Riviera.
Collin Morikawa. Jon Rahm. Viktor Hovland.
That young core is integral to the success of the Tour over the next decade, but the decisive blow seemed to come Sunday – first in a statement by Dustin Johnson, then in an announcement by Bryson DeChambeau. Johnson said that he was “fully committed” to the Tour moving forward. DeChambeau was less emphatic, saying that “as long as the best players in the world are playing the PGA Tour, so will I.”
The message was delivered differently but ultimately read the same: the PGA Tour would remain the top destination for the game’s stars.
“Who’s left to go? I mean, there’s no one. It’s dead in the water, in my opinion,” McIlroy said. “I just can’t see any reason why anyone would go.”
The idea of a rival circuit isn’t dead – there’s way too much money involved – but for now, PGA Tour brass can exhale.
Without the game’s most polarizing star (DeChambeau), without the best players in the world, this proposed tour is little more than a safe haven for the washed-up and uncompetitive.
Which, really, is no tour at all. At least not one worth paying attention to.
It wasn’t always pretty, but Joaquin Niemann held on for a wire-to-wire victory at the Genesis Invitational, his first win since the 2019 Greenbrier.
Staked to a three-shot lead at the start of the day, Niemann made only 38 feet worth of putts in the final round and saw his comfortable cushion get trimmed to a single shot. The final margin was two, and he looked relieved when he tapped in on the 18th hole.
“When I finished it was like, Hell yeah, it took forever, but we’re finally done and I can have a smile on my face and just think about it like it was a fun day,” he said.
Niemann’s victory at the Genesis (which featured the strongest Tour field in six months) vaulted him to No. 20 in the world. Though it feels as though he’s been around forever, it’s worth remembering that Niemann is still just 23 years old – younger than Morikawa or Hovland or any of the other young stars on the circuit.
The Chilean is one of the players who was thought to be targeted by the rival tour, and he did little to dispel those rumors this week by saying that he didn’t want to talk about any conversations he’s had. It was mentioned to him Sunday night that, while he was on the course, it was quite a busy day in the sport, with some key players turning down the breakaway league.
He was asked whether it’d be difficult to continue on that potential path if the other great players weren’t going, too. His answer was subtly revealing.
“Obviously, everyone is here to compete against the best players in the world, and I’m here to do the same,” he said. “I want to compete with the best players in the world; I want to be No. 1 one day.
“I think there’s nothing better than what I’m feeling right now. Winning a PGA Tour event, getting a trophy, having Tiger there, all the history behind it, there’s nothing that can compete with this.”
Apparently not even untold millions.
Newsflash: We still don’t know when Tiger Woods will return to competition.
In two interviews at Riviera – where he served as host of the Genesis – Woods reiterated that he intends to compete on the PGA Tour in 2022, but he doesn’t know when.
Woods said he has a “long ways to go” with his rehab and that his greatest challenge is actually the most fundamental to the sport: walking 72 holes. Over the coming weeks and months, he said he needs to develop strength in his leg and mobility in his ankle; that means more beach walks and endurance training at Medalist.
Unlike his appearance at the Genesis a year ago, Woods looked and sounded good. He seemed happy, optimistic, energetic. (We wrote more about that here.) Whatever happens this year – whenever he plays this year – that was an encouraging takeaway. As was his bounding up the 53 steps behind Riviera’s 18th green.
THIS WEEK’S AWARD WINNERS ...
On the Doorstep: Cameron Young. A hot streak in the minors last summer propelled the 24-year-old to his PGA Tour card, and now, after his second runner-up of this young Tour season, he’s on the verge of crashing the top 50 in the world (now 53rd). That would send him to the Masters and allow him to craft an elite schedule. A meteoric rise.
Collin Comin’?: Collin Morikawa. A hot week on the greens typically leads to a high finish, and that was again the case for Morikawa at Riviera, where he finished third in strokes gained: putting and tied for second behind Niemann. (Surprisingly, he ranked 26th approaching the green.) If Morikawa can keep that up throughout the Florida swing and tighten his usually excellent iron play, look out – he’s inching closer to the No. 1 ranking.
In His Sights: Bernhard Langer. After shooting his age in the first round (64) of the Chubb Classic, Langer went wire-to-wire and cruised to his 43rd career title on the PGA Tour Champions, bringing him within two wins of tying Hale Irwin for the all-time record. It was also his 16th (!) consecutive season with a win. “I’m getting closer,” he said of the record. “Years ago I thought, Well, that’s almost impossible to reach that. Looking back now, I’ve lost a bunch of playoffs the last three or four years. If I had won a couple of those, I’d be right here.” Legend.
Nip and Tuck: Augusta National. In the Masters media guide, the club unveiled two changes of significance last week: that length has been added to both the 11th and 15th holes. Adding 20 yards to the course’s final par 5 is a particularly intriguing decision: It’ll require an even longer club into one of the most difficult greens to hold, with danger lurking everywhere. Sign us up!
Better in Theory: Viktor Hovland. Never one to think conventionally, Hovland decided on the 15th tee to instead play down the 17th fairway, which he said gave him a wide-open look at the green. Here was a case of a good idea but the wrong execution: His approach distances from the flag were 74, 61, 47 and 74 feet. He played the hole in 1 over par. No, not exactly cracking the code.
Head-Scratcher: Incoming fines? After Harry Higgs and Joel Dahmen’s shirt-lifting antics on the 16th green at Phoenix, Higgs revealed that he’s likely facing a modest fine from the Tour – even though the Tour had little trouble promoting said antics all over its social-media feeds. It was a once-in-a-career gag. Can’t we let it slide, just this once?
Early Frontrunner for Up-And-Down of the Year: Patton Kizzire. Stymied with his ball just outside the bunker near the 14th green, Kizzire had little choice but to play his chip shot one-handed, with his back turned to the hole. He popped it out to 44 feet ... and then calmly poured in the par-saver, tipping his cap with an unmistakable smirk on his face.
Very casual up-and-down par save from Patton Kizzire. pic.twitter.com/1HCBkOoDQA
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 20, 2022
Welcome Back: Annika Sorenstam. The LPGA legend will tee it up in this year’s U.S. Women’s Open, the first major championship she has played since 2008. For the 51-year-old Sorenstam, simply making the cut in the game’s most difficult event would be a remarkable feat.
High Standards: Jon Rahm. Against the strongest field since August, the world No. 1 had a rare off week, needing a 6-footer on the last just to make the cut. With a final-round 65 he matched the low round of the day and managed to scratch out a tie for 21st ... which marked his second-worst 72-hole finish on Tour since May. Yeah, this dude is just relentless.