Martin Dempster: Clown Prince Phil Mickelson scuppers Saudi Crown Prince over Super League

Forget the Crown Prince. The proposed Saudi-backed Super League is now all about the Clown Prince. In one fell swoop, having opened his mouth without thinking, Phil Mickelson effectively killed it off.

The US PGA champion was supposed to be one of the players who could convince people that a breakaway circuit could provide healthy competition for the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.

The Saudis, though, needed Mickelson to be hitting his “bombs” and not dropping them, as he did in spectacular fashion in an interview with the US golf writer, Alan Shipnuck, for a book about the six-time major winner to be released this year.

“They’re scary motherf***ers to get involved with,” said Mickelson, referring to his potential new paymasters, in a phone conversation with Shipnuck in November but which only surfaced last week on the Fire Pit Collective. “We know they killed [journalist Jamal] Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights.

Phil Mickelson pictured during the recent PIF Saudi International at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club in KIng Abdullah Economic City. Picture: Oisin Keniry/Getty Images.

“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.”

And he wasn’t finished there. “As nice a guy as (PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan) comes across, unless you have leverage, he won’t do what’s right. And the Saudi money has finally given us that leverage,” added Mickelson.

“I’m not sure I even want (the Super League) to succeed, but just the idea of it is allowing us to get things done with the (PGA) Tour.”

Wow! What on earth was he thinking? And no wonder that Rory McIlroy has come out and described Mickelson as being “naive, selfish, egotistical, ignorant” over his remarks.

Make no mistake, both Monahan and Keith Pelley, his opposite number on the DP World Tour, had reason to be concerned about what impact sackfuls of Saudi money could have on their respective circuits but not any more.

McIlroy was out from the start and credit to him for taking that stance over the source of the cash. He’d already been joined in saying ‘no’ by Tiger Woods, Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa and Brooks Koepka.

There had been a lingering worry about Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau being tempted by the Saudis but not now. Maybe due to Mickelson claiming that he and three other PGA Tour players had paid attorneys to shape the operating plan for the new league, they now broken their silence and pledged to stay where they are.

With all due respect to Adam Scott, Lee Westwood, Henrik Stenson, Justin Rose and Ian Poulter, a Super League without any of the game’s current needle movers is a waste of time.

The Saudis and Greg Norman, the CEO of LIV Golf Investments, have had the rug pulled from under their feet before getting a chance to show what they had planned.

“Good riddance,” declared former Open champion David Duval in a post on social media, which may be slightly premature.

Some might say the same about Mickelson, but golf doesn’t need open warfare, so give him the chance to say ‘sorry’ and let’s see if we can all move on.

Norman wants to grow the Asian Tour through a new international series, so let him get on with that and see what it brings.

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