LIV Golfer Phil Mickelson Walks Back PGA Trash Talk: ‘Maybe I Shouldn’t Have Said Stuff Like That, I Don’t Know’

LIV Golf’s Phil Mickelson backtracked his negative comments about the PGA Tour on Wednesday at a press conference in Miami, Flordia.

Earlier this month, Mickelson took a shot at the PGA Tour and praised the Saudi Arabian-backed LIV Golf. Mickelson thought he made the right choice when he joined the start-up league.

“I think going forward you have to pick a side,” Mickelson said at a press conference on October 13th. “And I firmly believe that I’m on the winning side of how things are going evolve and shape in the coming years for professional golf.”

“And I see LIV Golf trending upwards, I see the PGA Tour trending downwards, and I love the side I’m on,” Mickelson added.

The PGA Tour’s unofficial spokesperson for the golfers, Rory McIlroy, fired back at Mickelson.

“I don’t agree with what Phil said last week,” McIlroy said on October 19th. “I understand why he said it because of the position he is in, but I don’t think anyone that takes a logical view of the game of golf can agree with what he said.”

On Wednesday, Mickelson walked back his “trending downwards” comments about the PGA tour at a press conference. When asked about McIlroy’s comments, Mickelson praised the Irish golfer on his win last week on the PGA Tour. McIlroy won the CJ Cup on Sunday.

“A couple of weeks ago, you said you saw LIV Golf trending upwards and the PGA Tour trending downwards. Not sure if you saw, but Rory McIlroy came out and said that’s just propaganda on your behalf, and can you just speak to that?” a reporter asked Mickelson.

“Well, first of all, what a great win he had last week,” Mickelson answered. “Some great golf, and it was an impressive victory. Maybe I shouldn’t have said stuff like that; I don’t know.”

Mickelson quickly defended the current state of LIV Golf and how great they have been doing.

“If I’m just looking at LIV Golf and where we are today, to where we were six-seven months ago, and people are saying, ‘this is dead in the water,’ and we’re passed that. And here we are today, a force in the game that’s not going away. That has players of this caliber that are moving professional golf throughout the world, and the excitement level in the countries around the world of having some of the best players in the world coming to their country and competing. It’s pretty remarkable how far LIV Golf has come in the last six-seven months. I don’t think anyone can disagree with that.”

Watch above via TJ Sports USA.