Phil Lefty drove into the players' parking lot at The Country Club on Monday in a white Lexus SUV.
It was 14 minutes away from his news conference, which was his first in the US since taking a leave of absence from competitive golf. As two golf carts waited to escort him to the crowded tent, he waited. He sat in his car for 10 minutes. Peter Davis opened a door and sat with him.
All eyes were on him when he got out of the car. Mickelson came out wearing all black, the stubble and no-hat look from last week's LIV appearance outside London remained. He wore his own logo on his vest, but the Augusta National logo that was blacked out on his vest was gone. The sign that he had been on location was fastened to his player badges.
The police officers escorting the golfer in the cart were greeting him when he stepped into the cart.
Are you doing well? He thanked everyone for their help. Lefty stepped up to the podium and asked "Any questions?" after taking a short drive to the interview area.
Lefty pondered his answers and carefully chose his words as he answered what the next step would be.
In regards to most of the governing bodies, I have done a poor job of conveying my strong opinions and ideas. It has been a mistake to make it public. It's one of the mistakes I've made, and I want to be more thoughtful with my words and actions, and keep a lot of those things out of the public eye.
Sharing his opinion of the PGA Tour's "obnoxious greed" and his feelings about the financiers of the LIV Golf Invitational Series, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, with author Alan Shipnuck was what landed Lefty in hot water. The players who competed in the first LIV Golf event were suspended by the commissioner of the PGA Tour.
During a news conference that lasted about 25 minutes, Lefty faced a lot of questions.
Terry Strada, a widow with three children, whose husband was killed in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, wrote a letter to Phil and other players who competed in the LIV Golf event. The 9/11 Families United coalition is chaired by Strada.
Strada wrote "We are angered that you are so willing to help the Saudis cover up this history in their request for'respectability'." When you partner with the Saudis, you become involved in their whitewash and are willing to pay a lot of money to make it go away.
Strada wrote that Osama bin Laden and 15 of the hijackers were from Saudi Arabia.
The golfer got a signing bonus of $200 million to join the club.
"I would say to the Strada family, I would say to everyone that has lost loved ones, lost friends on 9/11 that I have deep, deep empathy for them, and that's what I'm going to tell them," he said. That's something I can't emphasize enough. I have deep sympathy and understanding for them.
He was asked if he would write a letter to the people in the coalition. He didn't reply directly to the question.
He said that Americans feel the deepest of sympathy for those who have lost friends in 9/11. I can't emphasize how much I care for those that have been directly affected by it.
Strada said that the players should be ashamed of what they are doing.
She wrote that they were helping the Saudi regime "sportswash" their reputation in return for tens of millions of dollars. "As the PGA Tour commissioner said Sunday 'you'd have to be living under a rock' to not understand the implications of involving yourself with the Saudis'
The 150th Open Championship is scheduled to take place in Scotland from July 14 to 17.
He was asked if he would like to compete in a tour event in the future.
He said it would be speculative to say he was suspended from the tour along with a bunch of other players. I will be playing the events. Anything other than the British Open would be speculation. I'm not sure how this is going to end.
It's my preference to be able to choose between one or the other. I earned a lifetime membership because of my accomplishments on the course and because I gave so much back to the tour and the game of golf. I plan to keep that and then decide which events to play and not.
When asked if he was at peace with possibly never playing on the PGA Tour again, he said, "I am, again, very appreciative of the many memories, opportunities, experiences, friends, and relationships that the PGA Tour has provided." I'm hoping that I can create more.
One of the most popular players in the sport during his long career was asked about how fans will react to him outside of Boston. Payne Stewart had to ask fans to take it easy on Colin Montgomerie in order to win the 1999 Ryder Cup.
The first round of the tournament will begin at 1:45 p.m. He is playing with two other guys, one is from South Africa and another is from Ireland.
"I think the Boston crowds are some of the best in sports, and I think that they have given me a lot of support, and I'm very appreciative of that over the years." "I think that their excitement and energy is what creates such a great atmosphere, so whether it's positive or negative towards me, I think it's going to provide an incredible atmosphere to hold this championship." The people here have a lot to do with that, I think.
By the time the news conference was over, he had already left the property as quickly as he had arrived. The other players stopped to chat with each other before heading over to the putting green. The player who played in the inaugural LIV event last week took a moment to say hello to a few others.
After slipping into The Country Club on Sunday afternoon to work on his putting, he was gone in an instant.
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