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      Coach and Six College Golfers Die in Texas Bus Wreck

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      The University of the Southwest said its golf coach, Tyler James, was among the dead and that two people were in critical condition.Seven people from the University of the Southwest died after its men’s and women’s golf teams were involved in a fatal wreck in Texas on Tuesday night, officials from the Christian university in New Mexico said Wednesday.“The U.S.W. campus community is shocked and saddened today as we mourn the loss of members of our university family,” the university said in a statement that also said that two passengers were in critical condition and being treated in Lubbock, Texas.Although the university did not identify any of the victims by name, it said its golf coach was among the people who had died in the wreck, which it said happened when its bus was “struck by oncoming traffic.” A spokeswoman for the university in Hobbs, N.M., said the only people aboard the bus were the golf coach, Tyler James, and students.The Texas Department of Public Safety, which is investigating the wreck, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. But a spokesman, Sgt. Steven Blanco, told local news outlets that the other vehicle involved in the crash had been a pickup and that at least one person in the truck died.“It’s a very tragic scene,” the sergeant told KWES-TV near the crash site on Tuesday night. “It’s very, very tragic.”The golf teams had traveled to Texas, where many of their players had gone to high school, to compete in a collegiate tournament in Midland. The crash happened in nearby Andrews County.James was new to the nondenominational religious university, hired just last summer as coach after he had worked at other Christian universities and at a high school about 120 miles southwest of Fort Worth.The U.S.W. sports program, which competes in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, is a part of the undergraduate experience for most students, according to federal records. Between July 2019 and June 2020, it earned revenues of about $3.5 million and recorded just more than that in expenses. More

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      Rain, Wind, Cold, Tornado Warnings and After Five Days, a Champion

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      The Players Championship was battered by some of the worst weather PGA Tour pros had ever seen. Eventually, Cameron Smith of Australia prevailed.PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — There was an early omen that this year’s Players Championship, a signature event of the PGA Tour, would radically defy golf tournament convention. It arrived before the sun rose for Thursday’s first round in the form of an ominous-sounding weather delay, delivered as the golfers slept.In the end, most of them probably felt like they never woke up, as the ensuing five days of golf unfolded like a vengeful nightmare.“It was brutal out there,” Rory McIlroy, the four-time major winner, said of conditions that included 40 mile-an-hour winds, more than four inches of dousing rain, tornado warnings and temperatures that occasionally dipped to the mid-30s. As he spoke, McIlroy’s eyes almost appeared glassy. His face was wind burned, and his trousers were sullied by mud.Not long after McIlroy retreated to the clubhouse, the agreeable tour veteran Kevin Kisner described his tournament journey in spiritual terms: “It was just hit and pray.”As it turned out, the first weather delay Thursday was the literal calm before the storm and perhaps the last moment when the environment would be even remotely close to typical at the 2022 Players, an event that is meant to serve as a pre-spring celebration of warm-weather golf. Early Thursday it was not yet raining sideways on the T.P.C. Sawgrass golf course; it was just inevitable.Doug Ghim with his caddie Micah Fugitt on No. 10 during the final round on Monday.Patrick Smith/Getty ImagesWhat followed was something rarely seen on the PGA Tour — golf that made the pros curse like sailors and fling clubs into ponds while the everyday golfer watched at home and snickered: “Welcome to our world, Mr. Fancy Pants.”The pros, who generally did not complain about the conditions, understood. Max Homa wrote on Twitter: “Today was basically the worst day ever to play a golf tourney at Sawgrass but seemed like the best day ever to watch one. I was very jealous of the spectators.”Postponed to Monday, the event was won by a rising star on the tour, Cameron Smith, 28, of Australia. Smith pulled away from a handful of rivals with five birdies on the final nine to win by one stroke over Anirban Lahiri of India. It was the second PGA Tour victory this season for Smith, who has 10 finishes in the top 10 in the past year.Afterward, Smith even smiled.Others left the golf course shuddering, and not just because of their soggy clothing and freezing fingers. At times, the battered field — from Thursday to Monday there were more than 82 rounds with a score of 75 or higher — appeared to be in a half-numb daze.Sam Burns, who was in contention for much of the event, could be heard asking his caddie after one shot: “What day is today?”On Friday, after Matthew Wolff yanked an ugly shot way left and into the pond alongside the 18th fairway, he gently flipped his club, one-handed, into the pond. Apparently, he didn’t want anything to remind him of his nine-over-par 81.Workers squeeged water from the fairway after rain delayed the start of the first round.Erik S Lesser/EPA, via ShutterstockOn Saturday, when the wind was blowing the strongest, 29 tee shots aimed at the famed 17th hole par-3 island green splashed into the enveloping water hazard. On Thursday and Friday, only four tee shots had been deposited in the water.Brooks Koepka, ranked 18th in the world men’s golf rankings, was forced to play the devilish 17th hole twice on Saturday because his first round was postponed. He made a double bogey the first time on the 17th tee and then had a triple bogey on his next try.Then Koepka knocked his cap off his head to reveal hair dyed blond and walked away laughing.“I don’t laugh too often in competition,” Koepka said later. “But you know, this was different.” Koepka shot 81 and tied his career high for a tour round.Russell Henley had a different kind of daily double. He made a dispiriting double bogey on the 10th hole, then made a rare albatross — a 2 on a par 5 — on the 11th hole.Ian Poulter was so determined to finish his round on Thursday, he ran onto the 17th green and sprinted over to the 18th tee so he could be sure to get off the T.P.C. Sawgrass layout before the sun set.The wind and frigid temperatures over the weekend also had the golfers making some peculiar wardrobe choices.Joel Dahmen wore sweatpants beneath his form-fitting golf pants. Most players went with the more traditional thermal underwear. Paul Casey kept a hand warmer in each pants pocket. Viktor Hovland shoved his hands inside what looked like a pair of oversized oven mitts after each shot — and Hovland is from Norway.The wind was fierce and swirling in unpredictable patterns. Keegan Bradley, faced with a 95-yard shot downwind on Saturday, hit a short 9-iron. Later, in the same round, Keegan had 208 yards to the flagstick with the wind at his back. He hit 9-iron again. Bradley shot a fairly pedestrian score for a tour player, one-under-par 71, and yet, he proclaimed it “one of the best rounds of my life.”Collin Morikawa bundled up to stay warm during the second round.David Cannon/Getty ImagesSome of golf’s biggest stars, including Jordan Spieth, Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele did not make the cut. Schauffele arrived at T.P.C. Sawgrass for Sunday’s second round tied for ninth in the tournament and left tied for 90th.But not everyone in the field will recall the 2022 Players Championship with consternation and a chill in their bones and down their spine.Shane Lowry of Ireland made a hole in one at the 17th hole on Sunday and zealously celebrated for almost five minutes with fans behind the tee. For a while, it looked as if Lowry might joyously leap into the water surrounding the hole.He thought better of it. Some parts might have been frozen. More

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      A Rare Rainout Suspends Players Championship With Three Tied for Lead

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      Torrential rains flooded the fairways at T.C.P. Sawgrass, a course that already features multiple water hazards. The tournament won’t end before Monday.PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — This year’s Players Championship, a signature event of the PGA Tour, will take an extra day to complete after torrential rains on Friday in northern Florida suspended play for a second consecutive day. Golfers endured Friday’s foul weather for only a few soggy hours at the T.P.C. Sawgrass golf course, one day after the first round was twice interrupted by rain delays and never completed.The back-to-back postponements will ensure that the 72-hole, four-round tournament, scheduled to end on Sunday afternoon, will not finish before Monday for the first time since 2005.Large puddles had become common on most greens by 10 a.m. on Friday, and maintenance crews used squeegees to remove water after each group finished a hole. But in time, with fairways all but flooded, officials ordered players off the course. The first round is still not complete.“The golf course has just reached a point of saturation, and unfortunately the weather conditions are not providing us any relief,” Gary Young, the chief referee of the event, said late Friday afternoon.Young added that the golf course had received almost three inches of rain in the previous 36 to 48 hours and that the tournament will restart no sooner than 11 a.m. on Saturday. The third round will not be completed Sunday, and severe weather was expected in the area Friday night into Saturday morning, including wind gusts that could reach 60 miles an hour. But the tour is anticipating clearer weather by midday Saturday even though the T.P.C. Sawgrass layout will most likely still be subject to considerable wind.The conditions, coupled with a challenging Pete Dye-designed course that features multiple daunting shots over water hazards, could make for unpredictable results. Moreover, the final-round leaders will be forced to complete more than 18 holes on Monday.On Friday morning, Young said the tour was potentially considering a Tuesday finish to the event, but hours later he said, “We feel very confident that we’re going to be able to accomplish the conclusion of this championship on Monday evening.” A last round on Tuesday was “not really in our thought process,” Young said.It is the eighth time that the Players Championship, which was first contested in 1974, will not finish on Sunday. While Monday finishes are infrequent on the PGA Tour and at major championships — the last Monday finish at the Masters tournament was 1983 — they are not unheard-of, and players have generally learned to adapt.“You just know that you’re here hopefully until the very end of the tournament, and you just get on with it,” said Tommy Fleetwood, who was one of a few dozen golfers to complete 18 holes on Thursday and is tied for the lead at six under par. “Everybody’s in the same circumstances. When it’s your turn to play, you play.“It’s easy to get caught off guard when you’re hanging around for a long time and then all of a sudden you have to try to switch it back on. But you almost have to relax as much as you can and save your energy but always kind of stay ready and in that mind-set that you might be going out at any time,” Fleetwood said. More

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      Tommy Fleetwood Tied For First With Tom Hoge At The Players Championship

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      “It was break some golf clubs or shave my beard,” Fleetwood, the English golfer, said of his recent struggles on the PGA Tour. “I went for the beard.”PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Tommy Fleetwood, a golfer once ranked in the men’s top 10, has been missing from a PGA Tour leaderboard for so long, fans may not have recognized him when he vaulted into first place during the first round at the Players Championship here on Thursday.Fleetwood has also shaved his trademark — and popular — frowzy beard. And it turns out the facial hair is missing, in part, because of his recent two years of jagged play, which resulted in Fleetwood losing his PGA Tour playing privileges.“I was in a really bad mood,” Fleetwood, 31, said. “It was break some golf clubs or shave my beard. I went for the beard.”Fleetwood, a winsome Englishman best known for his shoulder-length hair and second-place finish at the 2018 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, played like his old self for 18 holes on Thursday. His six-under-par 66 was one of the lowest scores among the several dozen golfers who finished a first round that was twice delayed by heavy rain and thunderstorms.When play was suspended because of darkness on Thursday night, Fleetwood was tied atop the leaderboard with Tom Hoge. Roughly half the field did not complete their rounds and will hope to tee off early Friday morning, though there is more rain in the forecast.But Fleetwood’s usual sunny disposition broke through, and his golf backstory would be relatable to anyone who has played the game recreationally or professionally. While he spent more than 15 minutes trying to explain how one of the world’s best golfers had sunk into an on-course funk that at one point dropped him to 137th in the FedEx Cup rankings, he also smiled and simplified.“It’s just a strange game that you never seem to be able to understand or that makes no sense,” Fleetwood said with a laugh.While he admitted to being somewhat lost in a golfing abyss, he refused to be downtrodden.“I still have one of the best jobs in the world,” Fleetwood said. “I’ve just not been performing to the level that I want to perform at. Again, I’m not going to sit here and moan or complain about playing poorly for a couple of years.”Fleetwood, who plays on both the PGA and European tours, offered some explanations for his drop from the world’s ninth-ranked player in 2018 to 49th entering this week’s Players Championship.“There’s been certain things in my swing that I haven’t quite understood,” he said. “So then your confidence takes a hit because you’re not quite comfortable out on the golf course. It adds up.”He added: “My results haven’t been terrible, but I’ve lacked obviously very good results. And then I think especially from a world ranking standpoint, that makes it very, very difficult. So I’ve just sort of been gradually declining.”Fleetwood playing an approach shot on the 14th hole.Mike Ehrmann/Getty ImagesTraveling the world to play on two tours has not helped.“You’re playing minimal events on both tours,” Fleetwood said. “Even in my best years, I was always starting way behind the 8-ball just to play consistently throughout those years. Again, it’s hard to make headway. And when you’re not seeing good scores and the shots aren’t quite there, it just becomes harder and harder for it to change that momentum.”For Fleetwood, like most golfers, the game mystifies. And that goes for even the best of the best. He did not, for example, come to Florida expecting to be leading the Players Championship at any point. Late Thursday afternoon after his round, he talked about playing “dreadful” lately — but then birdied his first two holes.That may have brought some good karma, but it was halted when inclement weather forced a delay of more than three hours. Fleetwood, however, was undeterred.“I was quite happy when the delay came,” he said. “You knew a delay was coming anyway, so I took the break and later I got to practice. Then I started the day by holing a putt and got going again.”The rain-soaked fairways and greens made conditions challenging, but Fleetwood remained unfazed, clocking three more birdies in his next nine holes. He finished with a birdie on the par-5 16th hole and another on the treacherous 18th. The close left him grinning, but he would not predict future results, not after the last two years. Looking ahead to his next round, he said: “I might play terrible, I might play great. We’ll see.”Fleetwood was much more certain about the eventual fate of his once-famous beard.Asked if his wife, Clare, likes him clean shaven or with facial hair, he answered: “She definitely has a preference, and it’s not this one.”Fleetwood does think he looks younger without the beard. He was playing in a tournament with his fellow tour players Viktor Hovland and Collin Morikawa on his 31st birthday in January, he said, when the duo looked at him and told him: “We had to Google your age. I thought you were 37, 38.”He added: “Everyone kind of noticed that I look a lot younger without the beard.”But then Fleetwood had a final thought.“Clare definitely prefers me with a beard, so I’ll definitely grow it back,” he said. “As long as I can keep my temper and keep smiling, then I won’t have to shave it off again.” More

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      Scottie Scheffler Plays It Straight to Win Arnold Palmer Invitational

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      One of golf’s hottest players, Scheffler won his second PGA Tour event of the year and rose to the top of the FedEx Cup standings.ORLANDO, Fla. — Throughout the final round Sunday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, it was as if someone were playing a prank on the world’s best golfers.Simple tasks, like needing fewer than three attempts to sink a putt from one yard away, were suddenly impossible. Greenside chips were no less wayward, usually long or short but rarely in between. The players, one after another, were left scratching their heads, stomping their feet in anger or smiling sardonically.One tour veteran, Matt Jones, simply flung his putter into a pond after one such vexing experience. That was on Saturday, but it set the stage.Had the golf balls been replaced with tricked-up orbs designed to wobble off line? Was the joke on top golfers who normally make a befuddling game look easy?Alas, it was not a cruel ruse. If there was a conspiracy, it was one borne of thick rough, hard greens, gusting winds and the pressure to win one of the PGA Tour’s signature events. In the end, Scottie Scheffler, a rising young star, endured the exasperating challenge in the fewest strokes. With an even-par round of 72 on Sunday, Scheffler, 25, won his second PGA Tour event this year, rallying for a one-stroke victory at Palmer’s Bay Hill Club.Scheffler, a New Jersey native raised in Texas who is now the fifth-ranked men’s golfer in the world, has an Everyman, self-effacing style that tends to overshadow his consistency and an impressive recent record that has made him one of golf’s hottest players. Scheffler finished in the top 10 of the last three major championships he has played, and he now leads the FedEx Cup standings.But even Scheffler, who was five-under par for the tournament, felt drained from Sunday’s 18 taxing holes. “The golf course was a total beat-down,” he said. “I’m very pleased I didn’t have to play any extra holes today.”Befitting his no-nonsense image, Scheffler summarized his approach on Sunday with few words: “I just kept grinding.”Three golfers, Billy Horschel of the United States, Viktor Hovland of Norway and Tyrrell Hatton of England, finished tied for second.While the course conditions had been demanding throughout the tournament, the final charge on Sunday came after several hours of jockeying among the leaders. Scheffler began the day two strokes off the lead and had an uneven front nine with three bogeys and two birdies. But he settled down on his second nine and took a one-stroke lead with five consecutive pars heading into the pivotal par-4 18th hole. His tee shot on the final hole missed the fairway by a few feet, but his approach shot from 148 yards landed on the left side of the green about 69 feet from the hole.It left the kind of lengthy putt that had led to myriad misadventures — and bogeys — for the rest of the field on Sunday. After his round, Scheffler conceded that the wind on some holes had sent putts as many as eight feet off line.“Fortunately, the 18th green is kind of sheltered,” he said. “So when I hit my putt, I didn’t think the wind was blowing very hard.”Still, it took nerve and confidence to calmly stroke his birdie attempt to within nine inches of the hole.“I was just happy to see it next to the hole,” Scheffler, who tapped the ball in for a reassuring par, said with a wide smile.Moments later, Hovland missed a 20-foot birdie putt from a difficult lie on the fringe of the 18th green that would have tied Scheffler for the lead and forced a playoff. Horschel was in the final group on the course, but he also missed a lengthy birdie putt to tie Scheffler.Viktor Hovland of Norway made bogey on No. 17, above, then missed a birdie putt on No. 18 that would have tied Scheffler.Kevin C. Cox/Getty ImagesHovland, who is 24 and could be a rival for Scheffler for many years to come, was especially disappointed by Sunday’s outcome.“This one stings,” Hovland said. He called the arduous conditions “the same for everyone,” but added that the wind could make putts “a guessing game” and a “test of patience.”About 30 minutes before Scheffler was putting on the final green, Gary Woodland dramatically grabbed a one-stroke lead when he sank a 24-foot eagle putt on the par-5 16th hole. On the ensuing par-3 17th hole, Woodland’s tee shot found a bunker. Worse, he left his second shot in the sand, then missed a 5-foot bogey putt. His double bogey was followed by a bogey at the 18th hole, which left Woodland in a tie for fifth place, two strokes behind Scheffler.Hatton, the 2020 champion in the event, had one of the most topsy-turvy final rounds with four bogeys and seven birdies, three of which came in the final seven holes.The day began with Horschel and Talor Gooch atop the leaderboard and two strokes clear of the field. Gooch, 30, is enjoying his best year on the tour, but his troubles with the Bay Hill layout began early Sunday when he overshot the first green from 100 yards in the fairway and had to settle for a bogey. Gooch missed the green by 70 feet on the par-3 second hole, which led to a second bogey.A birdie on the third hole seemed to steady Gooch until he became a notable casualty of the course’s greens, which were dried out by the wind and a cloudless day with temperatures in the mid-80s.On the par-4 fifth hole, Gooch had a birdie putt of 19 feet. He missed it with the ball running two and a half feet past the hole. His next putt also missed, as did a 4-footer coming back toward the hole. When Gooch sank his fourth putt for double bogey, he was on his way to a 43 on the front nine and out of contention for the title.Horschel, Gooch’s playing partner, was also staggered by the front nine, with three bogeys, a double bogey and a birdie. Rory McIlroy, a favorite entering the event who was only four strokes off the lead heading into the final round, shot three-over-par 39 on his first nine to tumble down the leaderboard. He finished one over for the event.Jon Rahm, the world’s top-ranked men’s golfer, shot even par on his front nine, which, given the conditions, was an accomplishment. But Rahm could not continue that momentum and finished the final round with a 74 that left him two over for the event. More

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      Sahith Theegala Is a Rarity on the PGA Tour in More Ways Than One

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      The Indian American golfer is consistently finding his game as a rookie on tour, but he still lives with his parents and drives a regular old car.ORLANDO, Fla. — Sahith Theegala, whose humble public golf course roots, unpretentious mien and near victory at last month’s Waste Management Phoenix Open have made him a rising young star on the PGA Tour, ended his round on Thursday with a dispiriting three-putt bogey.Theegala, an Indian American from California and the rare nonwhite player on the tour, had hoped for better than a one-over par 73 in his debut at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The disappointment was plain on his face as he exited the final green. But after a few steps, Theegala, 24, broke into a smile as he graciously approached two volunteers who had accompanied him as scorekeepers for the previous 18 holes in stiflingly hot conditions.“Thank you for your help and for coming along today,” he said as he shook hands with them.The gesture was an apt close to the scene on the first tee hours earlier, when Theegala politely clapped as his playing partners were introduced to fans before their opening shots. It is uncommon, if not unheard-of, for professional golfers to applaud their competitors before a round, especially at the game’s elite level.But part of the winsome, budding Theegala phenomenon enveloping the PGA Tour this season is tied to his authenticity. He still lives at home with his parents, who emigrated from India in their 20s. Until he flew to Florida this week, he spent the previous few weeks driving his 2015 Volkswagen Passat 2,000 miles up and down California and then to Arizona to play in five tour events and never missed the cut in any tournament. In the Phoenix event, he was tied for the lead in the final round with two holes remaining before a bad bounce on a sterling tee shot cost him dearly and dropped him into a tie for third.If that gutsy performance for a tour rookie had not already won over many golf fans, a video posted on Twitter shortly after the event that showed Theegala crying on his mother Karuna’s shoulders earned him more admirers.The 6-foot-3 Theegala also has scoliosis, which causes what he called, “a pretty big bend to the right.” That would explain his somewhat unorthodox swing. The condition does not cause Theegala pain. “I just can’t move in certain ways,” he said.As a child learning golf on a dusty substandard municipal course near his home in Southern California, Theegala adapted his putting stroke by tilting his head to the right so he could see the appropriate line from the ball to hole. The profile of his distinctive stance on a putting green still stands out from 100 yards away.It explains why Theegala, a former junior champion and the winner of three college golfer of the year awards at Pepperdine, had a decent-sized gallery following him during Thursday’s first round. Theegala had an eventful day with three birdies and four bogeys as fans shouted his first name as encouragement, even if they often did not pronounce it correctly.It is “SAW-hith” — the second syllable rhymes with “pith.” Theegala understands the confusion. Besides, it has its advantages. He can always tell where his close friends and family members are in tournament crowds because they shout his name correctly.In a short amount of time on the tour, he has climbed to 42nd in the season-long FedEx Cup rankings. He is long off the tee — he regularly out-drove his playing partners Russell Henley and Troy Merritt on Thursday — and his short game has a mix of finesse and ingenuity defined with one word: touch.Every golfer, longs to have touch.For his part, Theegala finds the newfound attention he is receiving enjoyable, albeit amusing.“I’m an introvert by nature,” he said with a smile as he walked from the practice range after Thursday’s round.That trait is not paradoxical to Theegala, who performs before thousands standing nearby and many more watching on television.“You hear about the best performers in the world — singers and dancers — who are really big introverts,” he said. “But it’s different when you get on the stage. When I’m in the act of playing golf, I don’t even think about the people watching.”Theegala is aware, however, that as an Indian American he is viewed differently in a sport that has never made it easy for nonwhite players to ascend to the highest professional level.“I’m definitely proud of my Indian heritage and I hope I’m inspiring other Indian Americans and people in India to know that they can compete in sports,” he said. “It’s obviously not the main purpose of being out there but it’s an ancillary effect of what we’re doing and I’m all for it.“I do believe the landscape is changing.”Theegala smiled. His three-putt on the final hole already seemed like a distant memory. For such a vexing game, he is routinely sedate on the golf course.“Yeah, obviously, it helps that I’ve been playing the best golf of my life in the last six or seven months,” he said with a laugh. “That always helps, right? I don’t want to be too hard on myself.” More

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      Phil Mickelson’s Setbacks Keep Coming, and Tiger Woods Gets a Bonus

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      Mickelson previously boasted that he won the PGA Tour’s new program that pays the most popular pros, but the embattled golfer finished behind his rival once again.ORLANDO, Fla. — In an off-the-course chapter of the enduring rivalry between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, Woods once again bested Mickelson.Woods, who has not played a tour event since the Masters in November 2020, earned the largest bonus payment from a new PGA Tour program meant to measure a player’s appeal and popularity across the calendar year. For 2021, as calculated by examining categories that included TV ratings, internet searches and social media posts, Woods garnered the $8 million top prize even despite not playing because of serious leg injuries he sustained in a February 2021 car crash. Mickelson will receive $6 million for coming in second.In December, Mickelson had surprised the golf community by announcing that he had won the top award for the tour’s Player Impact Program, or PIP.On Twitter, Mickelson thanked “all the crazies (and real supporters too)” for his first-place payout. On Wednesday, Woods had a comeback.For Mickelson, who became golf’s oldest major champion when he won last year’s P.G.A. Championship at age 50, receiving only a $6 million bonus may not qualify as bad news, but finishing second to a golfer who didn’t play all year felt like a setback in a turbulent few weeks for him.In mid-February, comments attributed to Mickelson in support of a breakaway golf tour backed by Saudi Arabia created controversy and backlash. Mickelson was quoted as saying he knew of the kingdom’s “horrible record on human rights,” but was willing to help the new league because it was a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to dramatically increase PGA Tour players’ income.The following week Mickelson said he regretted his remarks, which he called “reckless.” He added that he would take a leave from competitive golf. Within days, his chief corporate sponsors, including KPMG, Workday and Heineken/Amstel, announced that they were either ending or pausing their partnerships with Mickelson.On Wednesday, the tour also announced the other eight winners of the PGA’s popularity contest. Rory McIlroy came in third followed by Jordan Spieth, Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas, with each earning $3.5 million. The golfers from seventh to 10th — Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm and Bubba Watson — will collect $3 million each.At a news conference, McIlroy was congratulated for finishing third. He shrugged his shoulders, grinned and offered a sheepish “thanks.”Asked if he felt there were any surprises in the top 10 money winners, McIlroy, who has been friendly with Woods for several years, answered: “Not really. I mean, you look at the 10 guys that are on there, and they’re the 10 guys that have been at the top of the game or have been around the top of the game for a long time. I feel like it’s a pretty self-explanatory system. That’s how the numbers sort of rolled out.”He added: “But it’s certainly not something that I’m checking up on every week to see where I’m at.”McIlroy, who has increasingly become a forthright voice in golf, has been strident in his criticism of Mickelson’s comments on the alternative Saudi-backed league last month, but on Wednesday he sounded conciliatory.“Look, we all make mistakes,” he said of Mickelson. “We all say things we want to take back. No one is different in that regard. But we should be allowed to make mistakes, and we should be allowed to ask for forgiveness and for people to forgive us and move on. Hopefully, he comes back at some stage, and he will, and people will welcome him back and be glad that he is back.” More

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      Phil Mickelson Apologizes for Support of Saudi-Backed Golf League

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      Mickelson called his recent comments “reckless” and said he will consider taking a break from competing as KPMG, his longtime sponsor, announced it would no longer represent the golfer.Phil Mickelson on Tuesday said he regretted his recent comments in support of a breakaway golf tour backed by Saudi Arabia and suggested he might take a leave from the golf course to “prioritize the ones I love most and work on being the man I want to be.”“I used words I sincerely regret that do not reflect my true feelings or intentions,” Mickelson said in a statement. “It was reckless, I offended people and I am deeply sorry for my choice of words. I’m beyond disappointed and will make every effort to self-reflect and learn from this.”A Statement from Phil Mickelson pic.twitter.com/2saaXIxhpu— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) February 22, 2022
      A proposed Super Golf League, whose main source of funding is the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, a sovereign wealth fund worth more than $400 billion, has tried over the last year to lure prominent golfers like Mickelson away from the long-established PGA Tour.In an interview for an unauthorized biography to be released in May, Mickelson told the journalist Alan Shipnuck, the book’s author, that he knew of the kingdom’s “horrible record on human rights,” but said he was willing to help the new league because it was a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to dramatically increase the income of PGA Tour players.In a story posted last week on The Firepit Collective, a golf website, Shipnuck quoted Mickelson, a six-time major golf champion, as saying the Saudi authorities were “scary” and using a profanity to describe them. Mickelson also noted the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post journalist who was assassinated in 2018 with the approval of the kingdom’s crown prince, according to U.S. intelligence officials, and alluded to the criminalization of homosexuality in Saudi Arabia, where it is punishable by death.Mickelson’s comments spurred a vociferous backlash from the highest-ranking players on the PGA Tour, almost all of whom have publicly rebuffed the new, alternative league. Rory McIlroy, a four-time major winner and one of the tour’s most respected players, called Mickelson’s remarks, “naïve, selfish, egotistical, ignorant.”McIlroy’s contemporaries, a younger breed that now represents professional golf’s hierarchy, were similarly dismissive of the comments attributed to Mickelson, who is 51.“I don’t do this for the money, which to me is the only appeal to go over there,” Jon Rahm, 27, said of the upstart Super Golf League. Added Rahm, who is atop the men’s golf rankings: “They throw numbers at you that’s supposed to impress people. I’m in this game for the love of golf and the love of the game and to become a champion.”Mickelson’s longtime rival Tiger Woods also professed his fealty to the PGA Tour, which is based in America. And Mickelson’s comments may have fostered even more support for it as two more top golfers, Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau — both of whom had been noncommittal about the new league — announced that they were sticking with the tour.Late Tuesday afternoon, KPMG, a professional services firm and a longstanding Mickelson sponsor, announced that it would end its relationship with Mickelson effective immediately.Mickelson’s statement on Tuesday could be an attempt to ward off a possible suspension from the tour. He said his actions had always “been with the best interest of golf, my peers, sponsors and fans.”He also implied that his remarks were “off-record comments being shared out of context and without my consent.”Minutes after Mickelson released his statement, Shipnuck, on Twitter, called Mickelson’s contention that his comments had been off the record “completely false.”While Mickelson’s statement on Tuesday was rambling, he seemed to be trying to make the case that alternatives to the PGA Tour were not without merit.Mickelson, surrounded by fans, shortly before winning the P.G.A. Championship last May.Erik S Lesser/EPA, via Shutterstock“Golf desperately needs change, and real change is always preceded by disruption,” he said. “I have always known that criticism would come with exploring anything new. I still chose to put myself at the forefront of this to inspire change, taking the hits publicly to do the work behind the scenes.”Mickelson, a popular player who won the P.G.A. Championship in 2021, addressed his corporate sponsors who may be unwilling to continue their relationships with him.“The last thing I would ever want to do is compromise them or their business in any way, and I have given all of them the option to pause or end the relationship,” he said, adding: “I believe in these people and companies and will always be here for them with or without a contract.”Mickelson concluded his statement with a discussion of his triumphs and setbacks.“I have experienced many successful and rewarding moments that I will always cherish, but I have often failed myself and others, too,” he said. “The past 10 years I have felt the pressure and stress slowly affecting me at a deeper level. I know I have not been my best and desperately need some time away to prioritize the ones I love most and work on being the man I want to be.” More