Phil Mickelson has signed up for the controversial LIV Golf Series, which begins in London this week
(Picture: Getty Images)Phil Mickelson has denied gambling and financial difficulties are behind his reason to sign up to the new and lucrative LIV Golf series.
The six-time Major winner is the most high-profile name in the 48-man field, which also includes the likes of Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter.
Mickelson is believed to have received a sizeable eight-figure sum to join the eight-tournament event in 2022. And while the 51-year-old admitted his gambling had been a problem, it has been treated by therapy and was not behind his reason to get involved with the Saudi-backed LIV Golf.
“My gambling got to a point of being reckless and embarrassing,” he told Sports Illustrated. “I had to address it. And I’ve been addressing it for a number of years, and for hundreds of hours of therapy. I feel good where I’m at there. My family and I are and have been financially secure for some time.
“Gambling has been part of my life ever since I can remember. But about a decade ago is when I would say it became reckless. It’s embarrassing. I don’t like that people know. The fact is I’ve been dealing with it for some time.
“We’re at a place after many years where I feel comfortable with where that is. It isn’t a threat to me or my financial security. It was just a number of poor decisions.”
The opening event gets underway at Centurion Golf Club in St Albans on Thursday with a prize pot of £20million as well as lucrative signing-on fees for those in the field.
Mickelson was one of the first players linked to taking part but later said in an interview that its Saudi backers were “scary motherf******” and that he had no intention of signing up. But his change of heart was made official last night when he was added to the final field for the 54-hole, three-day tournament.
It will mark his first competitive outing since those comments were aired back in February. Of those remarks, he said: “Certainly, there’s a lot of things I regret. I made a lot of mistakes. I hurt a lot of people and I’m really sorry.”
As for his reasoning for joining LIV Golf, he said that it had energised him to play and that he was excited about the different format, which includes a shotgun start.
Despite question marks about sportwashing by the Saudi regime funding it, Mickelson defended his decision to play, saying: “I’ve seen the good the game of golf has done throughout history”.
There have been threats of fines and player bans from the PGA Tour over their participation in LIV Golf but Mickelson said he had no intention of walking away from the PGA Tour and intends to play in the upcoming US Open next week.
Having been one of the leading players of his generation with 57 professional wins in total, there have been question marks over how his comments and latterly participation in LIV Golf would affect his legacy in the game.
But in response to that, he said: “I haven’t put a ton of time into thinking about that. I’ve had so many great memories in the game of golf, and so much appreciation and gratitude that the game of golf has provided me. But I haven’t really thought about that too much.
“I’m certainly grateful for the 30-plus years that I’ve had with the PGA Tour… and I’d like to think that I contributed to the PGA Tour over that time.”
