Phil Mickelson is probably the most well-known golfer after Tiger Woods. In his career, the left-handed golfer has won 45 PGA Tour trophies and six major championships. Moreover, Phil is also the oldest golfer to win a major, as he won the PGA Championship in 2021 at age 50.

During the early 2000s, fans considered Mickelson as Tiger’s biggest rival. However, Phil could never achieve stardom like Woods. But still, fans regarded him as a prodigy before he turned pro. However, this fame seemed to have given him a backlash in Ireland after he made a few controversial statements in 1991, a year before turning pro.

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Phil Mickelson once received backlash after his controversial comments

In 1991, Phil Mickelson was a member of the American amateur team playing in the Walker Cup. Meanwhile, Portmarnock Golf Club near Dublin was the host of the event. Phil was a well-known golfer and had won a PGA Tour event as an amateur earlier in the year. But his comments during the Walker Cup angered the fans, especially the Irish Americans.

After completing his round, a reporter asked him about hitting a shot out of the rough near the gallery. “That’s not a place I want to be. The Irish women are not that attractive,” said Mickelson while chuckling.

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These comments spread quickly and made the front page of the Irish newspaper the next day. Moreover, there was an enormous backlash to these comments back home as well. The Irish Consul in New York received a flurry of phone calls from angry Irish Americans.

“I knew I was in for it the moment I said it. It was a bad joke, and I feel just terrible about it,” accepted Mickelson later. He apologized for his comments and remained careful with his words on camera.

However, recently, Phil Mickelson suffered a similar backlash for his comments about the PGA Tour. Following all this controversy, Mickelson joined the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series.

Along with Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, and a few other prominent golfers have joined this rival league. However, these golfers are facing a lifetime ban from the PGA Tour for it.

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