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The Telegraph
Lines drawn in golf’s civil war: Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy split over breakaway Super League
Phil Mickelson is known for his mischievous sense of humour, but he was being deadly serious here at Quail Hollow on Wednesday when responding to a question about Super League Golf. “It’s a big deal to give up control of your schedule,” the five-time major winner said. “I don’t know if the players would be selfless enough to do that.” It is fair to say that even those who sympathise with the likes of Justin Rose – as the Englishman wrestles with the extraordinary dilemma of banking more than a $100 million at the risk of being booted off the sport’s two main tours, as well as the majors and the Ryder Cup – would claim it be a “selfless” act. Certainly not Rory McIlroy who produced a rant for the ages earlier that day over why the Saudi breakaway circuit is golf’s “money grab” equivalent of football’s European Super League. However, Mickelson made the argument regardless. “I think the fans would love it because they would see the best players play exponentially more times,” he said. “Instead of four or five times, it would be 20 times… But every other sport, the entity or teams or leagues control the schedule. Whereas here, we’re able to control it. “We all make a very good living. We all do well. I’ve already had kids and I had the ability to control my schedule and be at big moments in their lives. If you’re a younger player, are you going to give that up?” McIlroy’s line of debate was rather different and will surely have resonated with the overwhelming majority. The 32-year-old talked of “playing this game to try to cement my place in history and my legacy and to win major championships” and backed Monahan and the European Tour in their warnings of issuing lifetime bans.