The Sunday Times - UK (2022-04-03)

16 April 3, 2022The Sunday Times

Golf

T

welve days ago his photo-

graph and his name disap-

peared from the 91 players

listed to compete at the 2022

Masters. Instead Phil Mickel-

son dropped to the bottom of

the page, slotting into the

group of 16 “past champions

not playing”. Soon after, the Augusta

National club said that the player noti-

fied them he would not be playing in

this year’s tournament. For now, the

six-times major winner has disap-

peared without trace.

Forty-one days have passed since

Mickelson apologised in a statement

for comments he’d made about the

Saudi Golf League (SGL). Since then,

nothing. No golf, no social media, no

public sighting. Into the vacuum

rumours have flowed. Some believe

that he has been suspended by the

PGA Tour, others say he was invited by

the authorities to take a specified time

away from the game or be given a ban.

As if there was a difference.

It is said that he’s not answering his

phone and his friends on tour tell that

even they don’t know where he is.

There have been few expressions of

sympathy. What rankled with those

inside and outside of the ropes was

Mickelson’s admission that he was

playing the Saudis to squeeze more

money from the PGA Tour, even

though he was well aware of Saudi

Arabia’s record on human rights.

“Scary motherf***ers” he called

them while using their plan for an

alternative tour as leverage in negotia-

tions with the PGA Tour. Mickelson

has earned an estimated $800 million

(about £610 million) from his career

and still he is left with the sense of

having been shortchanged. So eager

was he to court the SGL, he and

co-conspirators had paid attorneys to

draw up the Saudi league’s operating

agreement. He said he knew “they

execute people over there for being

gay”, but this was a “once-in-a-life-

time opportunity”.

The disgust of fellow players was

immediately apparent. Though he

would subsequently offer a more

sympathetic appraisal, Rory McIlroy’s

first reaction was damning. “I thought

[the comments] were naive, selfish,

egotistical, ignorant.”

“Egotistical” was also the word used

by Justin Thomas, who added that if

Mickelson and others wanted to join

the SGL, no one was stopping them.

“Phil speaks for Phil,” the journeyman

pro Joel Dahmen said. And when the

veteran Pat Perez sat down with the

Sub Par podcasters Colt Knost and

Drew Stoltz, he spoke with a candour

not often evident on the PGA Tour.

DAVID

WA LS H

Chief Sports Writer

Borthwick has refused

to get carried away

Borthwick right to

play down his

side’s title

chances. But it

is Harlequins

he should be

wary of

THE MAN WHO

LOST AMERICA

Ties to Saudi regime ruined Phil Mickelson’s

reputation — now he can’t even go to the Masters

Once again Harlequins are being

underestimated. Last season they

made the knockout stage with a

flurry of fantastic attacking rugby.

Such rugby was not supposed to win

trophies, so we were told. First of all,

Bristol Bears, high flyers throughout

the regular season, were beaten at

Ashton Gate before the moment of

proof against the perennial finalists,

Exeter Chiefs.

In an epic final, Harlequins

scorched to a stunning 40-38 victory.

A Premiership side had never had

such a rattling run to overtake half of

the sides to make the play-offs, and

then win against the odds and the

experience of Exeter. It was the

greatest club final I have been

privileged to watch: almost a point a

minute; the most points in a

Premiership final.

Attack overwhelmed defence as

Harlequins edged a game played at

breakneck speed but one in which

the skill levels reached for the

sublime. Yet the champions were

only third favourites for the

Premiership at the start of this

season. Saracens were back in the big

time and the Exeter defeat was seen

as a one-off. As we approach the play-

offs, they are still third favourites.

Exeter, who started the weekend

in fourth, have been replaced among

the frontrunners by Leicester Tigers,

who are by far the most consistent

team in England. At times it seems as

if the only person who doesn’t think

they can regain their glories of old

this season is their head coach, Steve

Borthwick.

He has long pointed the finger of

favouritism in the direction of

Saracens. As I write this column, in

the betting markets Saracens are a

Stuart

Barnes

little under 2-1, Leicester a little over

2-1 and Harlequins 5-1.

At first glance Saracens and

Leicester merit the expectation that

these two sides will fight out the final.

Leicester are guaranteed a home

semi-final and Saracens are in pole

position for the second one. They are

the only two clubs, at the time of

writing, to have topped 600 points

scored and the only clubs to have

conceded fewer than 400. Leicester’s

points difference is 218; Saracens’ is

259; Harlequins, three points back of

second place, have a differential of

only 66.

The statistics suggest we are

heading for a Leicester-Saracens

final. Three times Harlequins have

faced the top two, three times they

have lost so far (the champions host

Leicester on April 23).

Victory this afternoon in Brentford