Phil Mickelson won't talk to any of us, says Love: "He knows this is not good"
Davis Love III has opened up on what he tried to tell LIV Golf's Phil Mickelson ahead of the 2022 Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow.
Davis Love III has revealed Phil Mickelson "won't talk to any of us" because "he knows deep down this is not good" on the eve of the 2022 Presidents Cup.
The United States captain has always been strongly opinionated with regards to the PGA Tour's battle with the LIV Golf Tour.
As Love sees it, he believes that the Saudi-backed series, which has now played five events of their inaugural eight-tournament $255m season, is attempting a "hostile takeover of the game".
Related: LIV Golf versus PGA Tour, Ryder Cup-style?! Scheffler weighs in...
"The more that I think about what's going on in golf, the more I can't see this as anything but an attempt at a hostile takeover," Love previously told Golf Digest. "I mean, it is a hostile takeover. We have to see it for what it is."
Love previously floated the idea of what can only be described as the nuclear option.
If the LIV Golf Tour players are allowed to participate in golf's four majors, then PGA Tour pros could simply refuse to play, he said.
Yeah, it even went that far.
Love faced the media at Quail Hollow alongside the International team captain Trevor Immelman.
If we're being brutally honest, it's clear that Immelman's International side was hit harder thanks to the players who have defected to the LIV Golf Tour.
They are without the likes of Cameron Smith, the $140m poster boy of the upstart who has now tasted victory in Greg Norman's league.
Related: Cameron Smith says he's still a great player
Although the International team captain revealed that he was "always" kept in the loop by the players who have joined LIV.
"All those players have been open and honest with me throughout their process, telling me exactly where they're at so I was up to speed on it," Immelman, 42, told the media.
"Everybody has a right to make their own decisions, and I respect those guys making those decisions. I also do respect them for keeping me in the loop and making sure that I understand exactly where we're at at all times so I could try and be as prepared as I could. So I thanked them for that."
As for Love's side, they are missing Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka.
Love sounded like a school teacher when talking about the high-profile players who have jumped to LIV.
"I'm not angry at Dustin Johnson or Cameron Smith, I'm just disappointed," he told Tom Kershaw of The Times
Love also spoke to the publication about Mickelson.
"My faith tells me money can't buy you happiness and a lot of guys are going to find that out, I think, over the next few years,” Love told Kershaw.
"Phil won't talk to any of us because ultimately, deep down, he knows this is not good.
Related: Phil Mickelson admits he could drop out of antitrust lawsuit
"He could have sat with me, Rory and Tiger and we could have figured something out. Maybe not everything he wanted would've happened, but some of it would, and that's what I tried to tell him."
DeChambeau, in particular, has previously claimed the Tour was "only hurting themselves" by not allowing the LIV players to play in Presidents Cups.
Although he also talked about pizza to explain how he knew this dispute in professional golf would be solved.
Love told The Times that he thinks this could never happen.
He told the paper: "The people who built this tour feel like someone is trying to tear it down and destroy everything. We hear all the time, why doesn't the Tour sit down and talk it out. Well, it's because we know what LIV's goal is.
Related: Bryson's epic LIV Golf moment gets WWE commentary!
"You look at some of these guys' statements, they're basically apologising for taking the money. If LIV was good for the game, why do you need to get paid $150m to go and play on it?
"They were paid enough to take the risk and that's what it boils down to. They've paid players whatever, a billion dollars and guaranteed them X-amount a year. Great. More power to them. I love Eddie Pepperell's comments. Just go, go away. Don't then sue us, don't hurt us."
Watch our latest YouTube video:
Next page: JT rips LIV Golf players over their OWGR letter
Ben joined the GolfMagic team in September 2021, initially as a content executive.
These days, he assumes the position of content manager.
