Journalist Alan Shipnuck has an update to his acclaimed Phil Mickelson biography where he chronicles that infamous LIV London press conference and gets an inside account of how Mickelson went to “kiss so much a**” in Saudi Arabia.
Mickelson’s explosive comments to Shipnuck, which the six-time Major champion insists were not meant for publication, led to him taking a break from golf before eventually joining LIV.
Describing the Saudi Arabians who would fund his huge signing-on bonus at LIV as “scary motherf******” was the headline, as the book led to a whirlwind for both golfer and golf writer.
An excerpt from Shipnick’s addition for the paperback version of ‘Phil: The Rip-Roaring (and Unauthorized!) Biography of Golf’s Most Colorful Superstar’ has been published on the Fire Pit Collective website and looks at that infamous press conference at LIV Golf London.
Shipnuck was prevented from asking Mickelson a question at his press conference by security, which he now believes were instructed by Mickelson’s team and not LIV organisers.
The famous pictures and video of Shipnuck’s confrontation, with Greg Norman lurking in the background, went viral – as did the LIV CEO’s text to the journalist saying he hadn’t heard about the event.
“I really hadn’t wanted to go public with the events of the press conference because the whole thing was so dumb,” Shipnuck wrote. “But Norman’s bald-faced lie was too outrageous to let slide.
“I responded to him with an image from the video showing him lurking directly behind me and then screenshot the whole exchange and put it on Twitter.
“The tweet went global, overshadowing the first round of the tournament. It got so much traction because it confirmed the widespread belief that Norman is a schmuck.
“My ejection from an otherwise innocuous press conference also fed the all-too-easy narrative of the Saudis’ aggressive disdain for a free press.”
Greg Norman said he didn’t see Alan Shipnuck getting thrown out of Phil Mickelson’s press conference CREDIT: @AlanShipnuck
(Image credit: Twitter: @AlanShipnuck)
And it’s clear that there’s still no love lost between the two, as Shipnuck also believes it was all down to Mickelson not wanting to face his questions.
“After subsequently unwinding the events with various involved parties, I believe that it was Mickelson, or his people, who sent in the clowns, not LIV.
“Sure, Norman could have interceded, but, charitably, he might…
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