Well, well, well. Sir Nick Faldo has apparently decided it’s time to sharpen his verbal putter and give Phil Mickelson’s favorite LIV Golf talking points a serious whack. On the Sky Sports Golf Podcast, Faldo didn't just poke holes in LIV Golf’s claim to sustainability as its Saudi cash flow reportedly starts to sputter; he went right for the jugular of their "growing the game" schtick.
Faldo, a man who’s been cultivating young talent for longer than some LIV players have been using a driver off the deck, pointed out that his own junior series, a venerable 30-year institution, has actually been busy "growing the game" with thousands of kids hitting balls. He reminisced about taking a young Rory McIlroy and Yani Tseng to Hong Kong decades ago, which sounds a tad more impactful than Phil Mickelson’s one-off captain’s visit. Honestly, Mickelson’s claim of expanding golf’s reach by showing up in Hong Kong once is about as convincing as a magician claiming they’ve truly made the entire audience disappear.
"I thought, sunshine, I was here 20 years ago with a golfer called Rory McIlroy and a girl called Yani Tseng," Faldo quipped, essentially suggesting Phil's "growth" initiative might be more of a mildew bloom than a deeply rooted oak. The six-time major champion’s frustration is practically dripping off the microphone, especially when the LIV circuit’s funding from the Public Investment Fund is reportedly drying up faster than a forgotten cup of tea on a hot day.
Faldo didn’t stop there, implying that the siren song of guaranteed paydays and a no-cut format has created a competitive desert. "There's just not that pressure of the fear of failure," he stated. It’s hard to argue with the logic; if your biggest fear is running out of artisanal cheese in the players' lounge, you’re probably not playing championship golf. Whispers from the range suggest captains are already eyeing the exits, which makes Mickelson's "fresh start" mantra sound less like a new beginning and more like a frantic sprint for the nearest fire escape.
Meanwhile, Mickelson, after a significant public silence punctuated only by a text message to his team at LIV Golf’s Indianapolis finale (apparently he’d had "the most fun he's had"), remains a captain of a ship that might be taking on water. While his rookie, Michael La Sasso, snagged a win, the broader narrative for LIV Golf looks less like expansion and more like a desperate attempt to bail out the dinghy. It’s a dramatic turn, even for golf, where the only thing more unpredictable than a squirrel on the green is the next LIV press release.