![\"Jack](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/efce1c5b4ce3225f0a0d521737f2722dcbfc7a70\/0_80_2410_1446\/master\/2410.jpg?width=460&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=9803710d313c33e8a45ecbef1d7d809c\")
<\/div>\n\u201cHe has his opinion on where he sees the game of golf going,\u201d said Woods of Mickelson. \u201cI have my viewpoint how I see the game of golf. I\u2019ve supported the Tour and my foundation has run events on the Tour for a number of years. I just think that what Jack [Nicklaus] and Arnold [Palmer] have done in starting the Tour, breaking away from the PGA of America and creating our tour in 1968 \u2026 I just think there\u2019s a legacy to that. I\u2019ve been playing out here for a couple of decades and I think there\u2019s a legacy do it. I still think that the Tour has so much to offer, so much opportunity.<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand different viewpoints but I believe in legacies. I believe in major championships. I believe in big events, comparisons to historical figures of the past. There\u2019s plenty of money out here. The Tour is growing. But it\u2019s just like any other sport. It\u2019s like tennis. You have to go out there and earn it. You\u2019ve got to go out there and play for it. We have opportunity to go ahead and do it. It\u2019s just not guaranteed up front.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mickelson is widely believed to have signed a lucrative deal with the Saudi-backed LIV\u00a0Golf\u00a0Investments, which will stage a $25m event in Hertfordshire next month. That Woods was choosing his words wisely was made clear when he was asked about Mickelson\u2019s non-appearance at Southern Hills. \u201cIt\u2019s always disappointing when the defending champion is not here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPhil has said some things that I think a lot of us who are committed to the Tour and committed to the legacy of the Tour have pushed back against. He has taken some personal time and we all understand that. I think that some of his views on how the Tour could be run, should be run, there has been a lot of disagreement there. But as we all know, as a professional, we miss him being out here.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking before Woods, Rory McIlroy was candid about the significance of the Saudi disruption plan. \u201cGreg [Norman] and everyone behind it are very determined,\u201d McIlroy said. \u201cI think we\u2019re just going to have to see how it plays out.<\/p>\n \u201cGuys are going to make decisions. Honestly it\u2019s going to shape the future of professional golf one way or another, so I think we\u2019re just going to have to see how it all shakes out.\u201d McIlroy branded Mickelson\u2019s\u00a0US PGA\u00a0no-show \u201cunfortunate\u201d and \u201csad\u201d. The two-time PGA champion added: \u201cThis should be a celebration, right?\u201d<\/p>\n Woods and McIlroy will be in each other\u2019s company for rounds one and two in Tulsa, which suggests the PGA of America\u2019s top brass are trying to, even briefly, shift golf\u2019s narrative. Jordan Spieth, who needs this major to complete a career grand slam, makes up the threesome.<\/p>\n Woods insists he is in better physical condition than at the Masters, which marked his first tournament appearance since involvement in a serious car crash last February. \u201cI feel like I can [win it], definitely,\u201d he said when asked whether victory is feasible. \u201cI just have to go out there and do it. I have to do my work. Starts on Thursday and I\u2019ll be ready.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It was far from a full-on attack. Nonetheless, Tiger Woods delivered more than enough veiled criticism of Phil Mickelson for onlookers to be left in little doubt that the 15-time major champion has little sympathy for his old adversary\u2019s predicament. Mickelson will\u00a0miss this week\u2019s US PGA Championship, where he was due to appear as the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":21986,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_post_source_name":"","_post_source_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[11261,5304,13175,12636,8193,9127,746,3577,6601,831,6654,11128,5612,11973,2291,6602,6598,8160,1364,6600,5538,7419,6659,6599,8373,6348,10885,3954,10415,594],"class_list":["post-21985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-accused","tag-attack","tag-car","tag-car-crash","tag-crash","tag-february","tag-feel","tag-future","tag-golf","tag-grand-slam","tag-jordan","tag-masters","tag-money","tag-one","tag-palmer","tag-pga","tag-phil-mickelson","tag-saudi","tag-saudi-arabia","tag-saudi-backed-liv-golf-investments","tag-tennis","tag-the-game","tag-tiger","tag-tiger-woods","tag-tulsa","tag-us","tag-victory","tag-will","tag-work","tag-who"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21985\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}