‘Insanely idiotic comments’ – Brandel Chamblee takes fresh swipe at Phil Mickelson

Brandel Chamblee has never been one to pull any punches where the LIV Golf League is concerned.

The former PGA Tour winner turned Golf Channel analyst has been one of the most persistent and vocal critics of the Saudi-funded enterprise since its launch three years ago.

Now, just days before the 125th US Open gets underway at Oakmont Country Club, he has taken a fresh swipe at one of its most high-profile players – the career grand slam-chasing Phil Mickelson.

Asked by a social media follower if he has paid any attention to this week’s LIV event at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia, Chamblee replied: “I watch, but generally it’s like watching a race of boxcars and being told they are F1 race cars.”

From there, the zingers kept coming.

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“The only time anyone seems to pay any attention to LIV is when [Phil] Mickelson or [former CEO Greg] 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.

“He 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.”

Ouch!

Mickelson, 54, is set to make his 34th start in the US Open this week. It’s the only one of the four men’s major titles that has eluded him throughout his career, with a record six runner-up finishes on his CV.

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The most recent of those came in 2013 at Merion Golf Club.

This week could very well be his final appearance in the championship, with the exemption he activated following his record-breaking PGA victory in 2021 set to expire.

Asked about the prospect of bidding farewell to his national open at Oakmont, Mickelson said: “I haven’t thought about it too much. There’s a high likelihood that it will be, but I haven’t really thought about it too much.”

The HyFlyers captain added that he is unsure how much longer he will continue to play, with his 55th birthday approaching later in the month.

“I want this team to succeed,” he added. “I don’t want to hold it back. “If I’m not an asset, if I’m not helping, if I’m holding it back, then it’s time for me to move on and get somebody else in here who is going to really help the team win and succeed.”