Phil Being Phil Takes On New Dimensions After Saudi Arabia Decision

The focus on Phil Mickelson’s decision to play in Saudi Arabia next January continues to center around his choice more than any other player’s, largely because he should know better, writes GolfDigest.com’s Max Adler:

Now, there are other prominent American golfers likely banking large appearance fees for participating in the second edition of the Saudi European Tour event—like Patrick Reed, Dustin Johnson, Tony Finau, and Brooks Koepka—but the heat is on Phil because presumably he should know better. A worldly man on the cusp of 50, knowledgeable on subjects as wide ranging as wine, dinosaurs and subcutaneous fat (and really almost any topic you care to bring up, many golfers say), should know that the staging of a popular western sport in a country whose values are so antithetical to our own comes with certain dilemmas that cannot be quickly dismissed. See the uproar between China and the NBA that’s now lasted over a month. Just last year Saudi Arabia directed the assassination of a dissident journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, and so hosting a professional golf tournament is a stunt to rehabilitate its global image that the New York Times calls “Sportswashing”. Phil has to be aware of all this.

While Mickelson has rightfully taken his share of the heat, I find it remarkable that the European Tour has escaped equal criticism for sanctioning the event, even after the incriminating evidence against tournament host Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman has mounted since the initial playing of las year’s event.

Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch addressed the larger topic of where players should be asked to draw the line on politically sensitive issues.