Brandel Chamblee lays boot into Phil Mickelson over ‘insanely idiotic comments’
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Another day, another Brandel Chamblee dig at LIV Golf. This is what he has to say this time…
Say what you want about the Brandel Chamblee, he does an excellent job of finding new ways to put the boot into LIV Golf and those who defected to the Saudi-funded league.
This year alone LIV’s poor TV ratings and Bryson DeChambeau’s X-rated rant have both been the subject of the analyst’s ire.
This time, the 62-year-old has described LIV as like “watching a race of boxcars and being told they are F1 race cars” while also taking aim at Phil Mickelson and Greg Norman.
Like most start-ups, LIV bosses and players have often gone hyperbolic when describing the new venture that shook up the men’s game by splintering it in two.
Whether the bold claims have proved true three-and-a-half seasons in is up for debate, but no matter what side of the divide you sit on, or whether you’re completely numb to it all by now, it still continues to rub certain people up the wrong way.
Chamblee is one of those people. The former PGA Tour winner is renowned for the brilliant insight he offers while covering the biggest events in the game and was asked if he had studied the recent goings on at LIV in preparation for this week’s US Open at Oakmont.
His response not only blasted the product but also two of the most controversial figures associated with it.
“I watch, but generally it’s like watching a race of boxcars and being told they are F1 race cars,” Chamblee began, in a post on X.
“The only time anyone seems to pay any attention to LIV is when Mickelson or Norman make insanely idiotic comments about the skill of LIV players.
“Phil Mickelson has mastered the public art in which self-righteousness congratulates the celebrator.”
Ahead of LIV Golf Virginia, Mickelson praised LIV for the progress it’s made and the fact it is bringing professional golf to new parts of the world.
“When the fans don’t get to see all the best players play, that’s difficult,” Mickelson said. “The model that is on LIV is what is needed to be successful.
“We saw it even on last week’s Signature Event [the Memorial Tournament]. Players will do what’s good for them and not necessarily play unless they are contractually obligated, just like in the NFL and baseball and every other professional sport.
“That model as it’s brought to LIV is allowing us to move throughout the world and make professional golf a global sport and allow countries that have never seen the best players in the world see the best players in the world compete.”
Chamblee has a rather different view of things. Mickelson plays against the likes of Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Joaquin Niemann and Cam Smith, and Chamblee believes all they are doing is competing to swell their coffers.
Going further still, Chamblee also reiterated his belief that the limited-field shotgun-start 54-hole events are the reason the majority of LIV players have seemingly struggled in the majors since leaving the traditional tours.
“He [Mickelson] and his LIV compatriots, all of them subject to the dramatic irony of having resigned themselves to play purely for money – not for history or for their respective countries – but purely for money, and now present to virtually no purpose, their presence in major championships is likely attended by a sense of urgency, the exact opposite no doubt, of the lack of urgency at LIV events.”
Speaking of ironies, LIV’s DeChambeau is the defending champion at this week’s US Open, as the best players in the men’s game come together once again to battle it out for one of the sport’s biggest prizes.
It is sure to throw up plenty more drama in what has been a year full of talking points. And you can follow all the news throughout the week at Oakmont with Today’s Golfer.
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Brandel Chamblee has once again taken aim at LIV Golf.
