SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The PGA Tour hits the Arizona desert this week for what is the largest outdoor cocktail party (no offense, Georgia-Florida football fans).
The weather forecast is Chamber of Commerce perfect. Fans are back on-site at TPC Scottsdale in full force, just like the good old days. And the field is stacked with World No. 1 Jon Rahm and defending tournament champion Brooks Koepka headlining the event.
While there’s plenty of chatter about the tournament, the fans and the good times, Saudi golf — and potential breakaway Super Golf League — is still a talking point for Tour pros.
Phil Mickelson, among the many pros who accepted appearance money to play the Saudi International last week, spoke openly of players’ rights, media rights and lobbed an allegation of “obnoxious greed” at the PGA Tour.
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After his nine-holes of pro-am golf Wednesday in a group that included Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen, Koepka was asked about his use of an emoji on social media in response to the “obnoxious greed” comment.
“I said what I said. I don’t need to say anything more. You take it how you want. I know what I meant by it, but it’s up to you,” he said.
A follow-up question was asked, “Do you agree with him on the media rights question?” Koepka replied: “Look, man, I said what I said. So you can take it from there.”
Koepka has previously stated his support of the PGA Tour and reiterated that once again Wednesday.
“It’s been pretty clear for a long time now that I’m with the PGA Tour, it’s where I’m staying. I’m very happy. I think they do things the right way. People I want to do business with,” he said. “I’m happy to be here. And I don’t really talk about it with many other players.”
Rahm, who hasn’t won the Phoenix Open but has never finished lower than 16th here in six visits, has been good friends with Mickelson for several years. They both played golf at Arizona State and both are among the Open’s fan favorites.
“I try to stay away from those things. I’m here to play golf, and that’s about it,” Rahm said when asked about Mickelson’s comments. “Phil has been on Tour for a very long time, and I’m not here to judge anybody, right? Phil said what he said. That’s it.
“He’s still a great friend of mine. I don’t know why he said what he said or why he said it how he said it, but all I can say is I support him as a friend, yet I don’t agree with everything he said.”
Rahm, who turned 27 in November, became the 44th golfer in PGA Tour history to surpass the $30 million mark in career on-course earnings.
“I’m 27 years old. I can count myself pretty lucky to be where I’m at in life.”
