After an extended hiatus, Phil Mickelson returned to the limelight Tuesday with his first public appearance in months, attending the LIV Golf Draft in London ahead of its inaugural tournament later this week. Mickelson, who turns 52 on June 16th, made quite an impression in his return to public life, giving off major midlife crisis vibes with his disheveled appearance and a leather jacket that looked better when The Fonz wore it 50 years ago on Happy Days.
Admittedly, Mickelson looks better than how he was described by Matt Adams of Golf Insider, who claims the three-time Masters champ, until recently, had a beard rivaling Tom Hanks’ iconic look from Cast Away. For those who haven’t seen it, Hanks spends most of the movie stranded on a deserted island, looking every bit like a man who has lost all contact with civilization.
Mickelson joins Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia and Kevin Na in bolting for LIV Golf, a new league backed by Saudi investors with former World No. 1 Greg Norman serving as its CEO. Announcing his decision to leave the PGA Tour, Mickelson acknowledged past “mistakes,” seemingly alluding to his well-known gambling woes, as detailed in a new biography by Alan Shipnuck that claims the golfer blew through $40 million in a four-year span. Mickelson’s contract with LIV is believed to be in the neighborhood of $200 million, an enormous sum but not nearly what was offered to Tiger Woods, who reportedly turned down almost a billion dollars.
Clearly, money isn’t an issue for LIV, enticing Johnson—a player still thought to be in his athletic prime at 37—to leave the PGA for a career overseas. Whether the league, mostly made up of aging golfers looking for one last payday before riding off into the sunset, can be a legitimate competitor to the PGA remains to be seen. As of now, LIV's fanbase is nonexistent with Na, among others, offering free and heavily discounted tickets to this week’s event. Further complicating matters, LIV doesn’t have a television deal in the United States with fans only able to watch on YouTube.
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