In his new book, LIV and Let Die: The Inside Story of the War between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, American sportswriter Alan Shipnuck has claimed that Tiger Woods was behind barring longtime rival Phil Mickelson from the Champions Dinner, ahead of the Open Championship at St. Andrews last summer. Woods allegedly approached the R&A and got the LIV golfer kicked out because “No one wanted Phil there.”
The rivalry between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson has been regarded as one of golf’s biggest till date. Their relationship did, at one point, evolve into a friendly feud. But, back in 2022, when LIV Golf was the talk of the town and Mickelson had just announced his shift to the Saudi-backed league, things were pretty heated up between the two tours and its players. And, Woods being the flag bearer of the PGA Tour, found Mickelson’s betrayal to the Tour as despicable. So, what led the greatest golfer of all time to indulge in such a devious maneuver?
Tiger Woods Made Sure That Mickelson Learned a Lesson
Back in June 2022, when LIV Golf announced its first tournament, things were already tense in the golf world with the Greg Norman led league defying rules and poaching top players for insurmountable sums of money. And with a top golfer like Mickelson making his switch to the Saudi-backed Tour, things took a turn for the worse. Tiger Woods openly criticized him for his move saying that players who joined LIV Golf had “turned their back on what has allowed them to get to this position.”
Amid all the tensions brewing among players from both the Tours, things started to get sour as the days went by, and as the final major of the year approached in July, Woods had had it with Greg Norman and Mickelson. According to an excerpt released by Fire Pit Collective from Shipnuck’s upcoming book, the 15 times major winner rounded up couple of past Open champions before a private Open Champions Dinner at the R&A clubhouse. He asked them to back him in his decision, and together took his concern to the R&A to get the LIV golfer banned from attending the gathering. Shipnuck writes,
“The following week brought the 150th Open. It was supposed to be a joyous celebration of the game’s oldest championship and most historic venue, but everyone was edgy during Open week. Mickelson was snubbed from a private dinner for Open winners held in the R&A clubhouse. Woods orchestrated that. ‘He talked to a handful of other [past champions] to get their blessing and then went to the R&A and told them, basically, no one wanted Phil there and it would make the night weird and awkward,” says one of the men at the dinner. ‘Whose side were they going to take Tiger’s or Phil’s? That’s an easy choice.’”
The R&A went ahead and sided with Woods on his request and Mickelson was advised against partaking in any activity meant for past champions during the tournament week. Alan Shipnuck’s book is all set to release on October 17th, but it has already ignited fury among golfers who have accused him of making money out of selling false information.
Justin Thomas Lashes Out on Alan Shipnuck, Says That Everyone is Sick of Him
In yet another excerpt from Shipnuck’s book, he quotes Brooks Koepka addressing Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth in a vile fit of emotion after he joined LIV Golf in 2022 and played his first LIV event in Portland saying, “F**k all of those country club kids who talk sh*t about me. You think I give a f**k what they think?”
And while Justin Thomas did not address this quote particularly he went on Twitter (now X) and called Shipnuck out uproariously:
“I’d like to speak on behalf of a lot of Tour players and say we’re sick of @AlanShipnuck doing what he does,” Thomas wrote on social media. “Bring positivity and good stories to help grow the game of golf, not try and make money bashing guys, earning zero trust, with a lot of incorrect information. Ridiculous.”
Here’s one on Rory from @AlanShipnuck’s new book. pic.twitter.com/GMmc0gDmPU
— Kyle Porter (@KylePorterCBS) October 4, 2023
Alan Shipnuck’s writing has been a cause of controversy in the past as well when he exposed Mickelson’s comments on Saudi Arabia in his previous book, which led the LIV golfer to lose several of his endorsements.
