[Golf Topic] McIlroy Extends a Helping Hand to 'Public Enemy' Mickelson~

[Asia Economy Kim Hyun-joon, Golf Specialist Reporter] ○…Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland, photo) has stepped in to help the 'public enemy' Phil Mickelson (USA)...

On the 3rd (Korean time), a day before the start of the Arnold Palmer Invitational (total prize money $12 million) of the PGA Tour in the United States, McIlroy expressed his position at a press conference held at Bay Hill Golf Club (par 72) in Orlando, Florida, saying, "Mickelson is still a great ambassador for golf" and "I hope he returns to the PGA Tour." He added, "We all make mistakes" and "We must be able to move forward with forgiveness."

The starting point was when Mickelson defended the Saudi Arabia-led Super Golf League (SGL), saying "The greed of the PGA Tour is disgusting" and "The launch of the SGL will actually be an opportunity for players to be treated better." This sparked criticism from the American media and the majority of players, and sponsors including the title sponsor KPMG dropped out one after another. Mickelson then lowered his stance, saying, "I apologize for my inappropriate remarks so far" and "I will refrain from activities for a while."

It is interesting that the PGA Tour responded to the SGL with various incentives such as the $50 million (60.1 billion KRW) Player Impact Program and the $20 million (2.41 billion KRW) Comcast Business Tour Top 10, along with the threat of "If you join the SGL, you will be expelled." McIlroy emphasized, "The PGA Tour and DP World Tour (European Tour) will soon develop into a huge global tour," adding, "Steps such as mutual equity purchases have already begun."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.