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US golfer Phil Mickelson is widely regarded as one of the best players in history. A three-time Masters title winner, he became the oldest major winner at 50 years, 11 months and seven days when he won the 2021 PGA Championships.
He grabbed headlines this year when he defected to the controversial LIV Golf from the PGA Tour and Lefty has not been out of the news since. Most recently, his new henna tattoo has been under focus.
At the ongoing LIV Golf Jeddah tournament, Phil Mickelson expressed some forthright views during the press conference. Along with his statements, the henna tattoo of his logo on his hand also drew attention.
The logo is a silhoutte of him celebrating after hitting the winning putt at the 2004 Masters. He has been using the logo on his apparel since 2017 and has now put it on display on his hand in Jeddah.
The tattoo is made of henna and is not permanent. On Thursday, Mickelson admitted that he regretted having it done.
"It was supposed to be this. Didn’t really turn out that way (laughing). It’s not permanent though. So it was just something we had last night at the dinner there. There was some people making little painting on little henna tattoos, so I went for it."
Good for him that the henna tattoo is only temporary and will wear off in a few days.
Did Phil Mickelson do an interview with Alan Shipnuck?
In February this year, tensions between the Saudi-backed LIV Golf and the PGA Tour were rife. Matters got serious when former Sports Illustrated and Golf Magazine writer Alan Shipnuck released an excerpt of the upcoming unauthorized biography of Phil Mickelson.
The excerpt revealed some serious remarks that Mickelson allegedly made about the Saudi-backed league during a phone call with Shipnuck in November last year, referring to the Saudis as "scary motherf***ers to get involved with".
He further said:
"We know they killed (Washington Post reporter Jamal) Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights. They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates,"
The interview was published a couple of months later that took the golfing world by storm. Post the release, Phil Mickelson issued a statement claiming that his remarks were taken "off the record."
He added that the comments were shared out of context and without his consent. He apologized for the statements and maintained that they were not his true intentions.
"It was reckless, I offended people, and I am deeply sorry for my choice of words. I'm beyond disappointed and will make every effort to self-reflect and learn from this,"
However, recently at the Jeddah LIV Golf press conference, he denied ever doing an interview with Alan Shipnuck.
"I never did an interview with Alan Shipnuck. And I find that my experience with everybody associated with LIV Golf has been nothing but incredibly positive and I have the utmost respect for everybody that I've been involved with."
Phil Mickelson will be seen in action at the Royal Greens for the final stop of the LIV Golf tour at Jeddah before the Team Championships at Trump Doral in Miami.
