Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson comments hurt Saudi-backed super league
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Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau were both thought to be ready to join a proposed Saudi-funded super league
Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson and, indirectly, Phil Mickelson have made life a whole lot easier for the man who runs the planet's biggest golf circuit.
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan is due to address players in a meeting at this week's Honda Classic in Florida. He will walk into the room with a jauntier stride than he might have anticipated only a week ago.
Back then a Saudi Arabia-funded breakaway super league appeared a strong prospect. Rumours abounded that around 20 top players had been signed up.
Fronted by former world number one Greg Norman, LIV Golf Investments were on the verge of announcing a Formula 1 style circuit, potentially during the week of next month's Players Championship - the PGA Tour's flagship event. Ouch.
Monahan was due to remind his golfers that they faced lifetime bans if they defected to the lucrative setup backed by Saudi Arabia's vast Public Investment Fund (PIF).
But now, as Rory McIlroy pointed out, the proposed Super Golf League seems "dead in the water".
Johnson, who was thought to be a close ally of the Kingdom, having accepted huge appearance fees to play in all four Saudi International events to date - winning two of them - has now given unequivocal backing to the PGA Tour.
Indeed, it was not insignificant that he chose to release this message through the tour's social media channels.
DeChambeau was thought to be the big hitter around whom the super league would be built. It was reported he had been offered in excess of $100m (£73.5m) to be the face of the project, a figure he denied.
And DeChambeau ultimately followed DJ's lead, saying he is staying put on the US circuit for as long as other leading players remain there.
These were significant and dramatic moves on Sunday. They followed a string of top-10 players, led by world number one Jon Rahm and Open champion Colin Morikawa backing the PGA Tour during the Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles.
Was it a coincidence that Johnson and DeChambeau's apparent change of heart followed publication last week of Mickelson's toxic comments, which were originally made last November?
The 51-year-old US PGA champion, men's golf's oldest major winner, disparagingly referenced the Saudi Arabian paymasters he was courting. "They're scary to get involved with," he said, also referring to the Kingdom's human rights record.
"Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates."
Furthermore Mickelson also told Alan Shipnuck, who has written a soon-to-be published biography of the six-times major champion, that he had enlisted three other top players to the Saudi project.
They had paid lawyers to write the Super Golf League's operating agreement.
This admission may lead to one of golf's biggest stars receiving a PGA Tour ban while still a major champion. Mickelson's comments must have upset all sides and this prime mover in the Saudi project now seems a golfing pariah.
As McIlroy, a long-time opponent of the breakaway movement, said: "I don't want to kick someone while he's down obviously.
"But I thought they (Mickelson's remarks) were naive, selfish, egotistical, ignorant. It was just very surprising and disappointing and sad. I'm sure he's sitting at home sort of rethinking his position and where he goes from here."
Norman must also be considering his next move. The 67-year-old Australian has launched a $300m International Series as part of the Asian Tour, a move that could have helped provide world ranking points and legitimacy to his wider plans.
"This is just the beginning," he told reporters at this month's Saudi International. It might now be the end, although PIF benefactors will still be looking for a return on their investment.
Right now it seems the only players potentially interested are 40-something veterans, the likes of Lee Westwood (who admitted he has signed a non-disclosure agreement), Ian Poulter and Henrik Stenson.
Former world number one Adam Scott said he could "see the attraction" of a super league circuit that involves guaranteed money, team formats and no cuts.
But in the absence of any young stars the super league could hardly satisfy trades description legislation. Instead it would be a series of tournaments for players occupying the waiting room for the seniors circuit - from which they might later face a legal fight to avoid being banned.
To golf's shame this Saudi super league saga has taken longer to fall apart than that putrid attempt to bring something similar to European club football last year. Its greed and folly were quickly exposed.
The likes of DeChambeau and Johnson, who were crucial figures, held on until it became clear the game was up.
Now the PGA Tour emerges stronger, as do strategic partners the European-based DP World Tour. Money has already been thrown at top stars with $50m going into the American tour's controversial Player Impact Programme (PIP) this year.
Mickelson was, ironically, the main beneficiary of PIP in 2021,, external but that's unlikely to be the case this year.
The established circuits will make further changes and it will be no surprise to see some kind of lucrative guaranteed money team competition introduced in the autumn period. Crucially, though, it will be under their auspices.
As for the remaining players tempted to defect, it will be interesting to see. Westwood, Poulter and Stenson are all seen as future European Ryder Cup captains. So was Mickelson for the US.
There will be plenty of residual anger within the elite professional game after this brush with what might have been a very damaging split. How long might such resentment linger?