Phil Mickelson has apologized for his comments about the Saudis and the idea of a new circuit, which he said were confidential in nature.
Posted at 6:59 p.m.
The American said in a statement that he has been affected by pressure and stress at a substantial level for 10 years, adding that he needs a break.
Mickelson doesn’t specify if that means a break from golf.
“I am beyond disappointed and will do everything I can to reflect on myself and learn from this situation,” he said.
KPMG became the first company to end their partnership.
The company said the decision is mutual.
The most damaging comments directed at Alan Shipnuck call the Saudis funding the proposed league “scary bastards”.
He also told Shipnuck, author of a biography on Mickelson, due out in May, that it was worth doing business with the Saudis, despite a history of human rights abuses, if it would create change within the PGA.
The interview was done last November.
“We know they killed (Washington Post reporter Jamal) Khashoggi and they have terrible precedents for rights and freedoms,” he said. They execute people for being gay.
“Knowing all that, why would I even think about it?” Because it’s a unique opportunity to reshape how the PGA works. »
Mickelson says he’s always put the interests of golf first, “even though that doesn’t seem to be the case with my recent comments.”
“It is problematic that confidential comments are shared without context and without my consent,” he added. But above all, there is that I used words which I sincerely regret and which do not reflect my true feelings or my real intentions. »
Mickelson said he was “deeply sorry” in the wake of the “irresponsible” remarks.
Shipnuck wrote on The Fire Pit Collective, where he posted Mickelson’s comments last week, that “in our conversation, Mickelson never mentioned the idea of privacy, of ‘background’, of ‘just between us’. ” or something like that. »
Shipnuck tweeted Tuesday that Mickelson’s claims that the talks were confidential are “completely false.”
KPMG has ended a partnership dating back to 2008. “We wish them the best,” the company wrote in an email.
In Mickelson’s press release, he offered his partners the option to put their agreements on hold or terminate them.
“It may be necessary in the circumstances,” said the golfer.
His statement ends as follows: “I know that I have not been at my best and I desperately need some time apart to prioritize the people I love and work on being the man I want to be. “.