At first blush, little would seem to connect Phil Mickelson to Angela Lansbury, who died October 11 at age 96, her reputation intact. Lansbury’s legacy includes an Oscar-nominated debut in “Gaslight,” a 1944 film that originated the term “gaslighting,” decades before the charlatans of our present epoch perfected it. Gaslighting means manipulating a credulous audience to the point where they doubt the evidence before their eyes — essentially what LIV golfers have attempted by peddling a distorted reality this week in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Including Mickelson, who might as well be cast in his own show, “Malarkey, He Spoke.”
Reaction to Mickelson’s comments focused on his claim that he never gave an “interview” to Alan Shipnuck, who revealed in February that Mickelson called his Saudi benefactors murderers, human rights abusers and “scary m-f’ers.” While plenty in golf media gnawed on this diversionary bone, it was sideshow spat about nomenclature — whether it was an interview on the record or a conversation off. Mickelson hasn’t denied talking to Shipnuck nor the veracity of the quotes. In fact, he apologized for his words, if only to the Saudis. It all distracted from the even more questionable assertions he offered while standing before the “scary m-f’ers.”
