PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Phil Mickelson is interviewed by the Golf Channel during Ryder Cup Captain Selection Press Conference at the PGA of America on February 24, 2015. | Photo by Megan Blank/The PGA of America via Getty Images
The 6-time major winner and Golf Channel analysts traded blows once again on Twitter with a twist.
Phil Mickelson loves having a thrill, especially when arguing against LIV Golf dissidents.
This past week, those within golf media have debated whether or not Brooks Koepka, the first LIV player to win a major championship, should play in the Ryder Cup this fall.
Mickelson entered this conversation after Claude Harmon III, Brooks Koepka’s swing coach, accused Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee of being a paid actor when he denounced LIV golf.
In doing so, Mickelson responded to a Golfweek article citing Chamblee’s response—a 538-word soliloquy arguing against the Saudi-backed LIV Tour:
“Poor Brandel. He can rip apart me and countless others but as soon as someone shows his ignorance he can’t handle it. He’s softer now than he was as a player,” Mickelson tweeted.
Poor Brandel
He can rip apart me and countless others but as soon as someone shows his ignorance he can’t handle it. He’s softer now than he was as a player.
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) May 25, 2023
The intriguing tension did not end there.
Chamblee, who sits on Golf Channel’s Live From set with former European Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley and host Rich Lerner, has vehemently denounced LIV and its beneficiaries ever since its inception.
Nonetheless, in response to Mickelson’s jab, Chamblee questioned Mickelson’s toughness and invited him to come on the Live From set at next month’s U.S. Open, which will take place at the North Course at Los Angeles Country Club:
Phil is welcome to come on the Live From set at the US Open to discuss the merits of playing for scary MFers, as he called them, and the Billy Walters book that comes out August 22… but my guess he’s too soft to come on and debate. https://t.co/PJlE7MF9cg
— Brandel Chamblee (@chambleebrandel) May 26, 2023
Chamblee did not hold back, citing some juicy details from Mickelson’s past.
In Alan Shipnuck’s biography on Mickelson, titled “Phil: The Rip-Roaring and Unauthorized Biography of Golf’s Most Colorful Superstar,” Shipnuck notes that Mickelson referred to the Saudi Arabian government as “scary motherf***ers.”
Within this book, Shipnuck also mentions Billy Walters, who had connections with Mickelson through various encounters but was arrested for insider trading in 2017.
A book on Walters’ life will be released this August.
If Mickelson came on Live From the U.S. Open, that would produce appointment television for the entire golf world. Chamblee and McGinley would not hold back, nor would Mickelson, as a debate full of fireworks would be the only guarantee.
Yet, Chamblee put this discussion to bed last night by blocking Mickelson on Twitter:
Perhaps Chamblee grew agitated with Mickelson. Or he is rising above the noise and choosing to ignore it. Either way, a Mickelson appearance on the Golf Channel set at the U.S. Open next month would be wildly entertaining and, frankly, much needed.
