“Let’s get the facts straight” – Phil Mickelson says PGA Tour turned down investment offer because Jay Monahan is blinded by ‘greed’

Phil Mickelson has claimed that the PGA Tour turned down Endeavor's huge investment offer due to the greed of the Tour's Commissioner, Jay Monahan.

It was reported earlier that Endeavor, the parent company of WWE and UFC, expressed interest in investing in the PGA Tour. However, on Friday, October 27, Mark Shapiro, Endeavor's President and COO, told Sportico that the PGA Tour had officially rejected the offer.

Phil Mickelson reacted to the news on his social media account on X (formerly known as Twitter) and claimed that Endeavor's offer was declined due to Monahan's thirst for power. He also said that Silver Lake, a global technology investment firm, had shown interest in investing in the PGA Tour two years ago.

He wrote:

"Ari and Endeavor were to run 8 elevated events and the players and SilverLake would own the new elevated events 50/50 in a separate entity. October 30,2021 Ed Herlihy [PGA Tour policy board chairman] said the Tour would take a hostile view and shut this down if it’s not 100% owned by the PGA Tour."

"Then in February of 2022 SilverLake went back to Monahan and said The League was going to happen and these new elevated events could prevent players from leaving and Jay said 'the players won’t go, they know what we will do to them' so we won’t be doing this."

Mickelson revealed that Silver Lake had a meeting with Jay again in May of last year and made the same offer. He further stated that Monahan and Herlihy had three opportunities to fully fund the elevated events with investor support, which could have prevented the controversial split, but their hunger for power stopped them from accepting these offers.

"Their need to control everything(obnoxious greed) blinded their judgement. Let’s get the facts straight. All of this is in discovery of the civil case if it can be obtained. If not, I have it too," he concluded.

Shapiro told Sportico that Endeavor's offer included selling commercial rights and managing tournaments, but it never materialized. Earlier this year, Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel revealed that the company had nearly invested $1 billion in the Saudi-backed circuit but withdrew the offer at Jay Monahan's request.

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How did Phil Mickelson perform in the 2023 season?

The 53-year-old golf veteran didn't have a memorable season as he failed to secure any wins. His only top-10 finish in the LIV Golf came at Bedminster, where he finished T9.

In the major championships, Mickelson achieved a runner-up finish at the Masters but finished T50 at the PGA Championship and missed the cut in the other two majors.

Here's a look at Phil Mickelson's performance in 2023:

LIV Golf

• LIV Golf Invitational Mayakoba: T27
• LIV Golf Invitational Tucson: T30
• LIV Golf Invitational Orlando: T41
• LIV Golf Invitational Adelaide: T11
• LIV Golf Invitational Singapore: T13
• LIV Golf Invitational Tulsa: T45
• LIV Golf Invitational DC: T44
• LIV Golf Invitational Andalucía: T23
• LIV Golf Invitational London: T40
• LIV Golf Invitational Greenbrier: T25
• LIV Golf Invitational Bedminster: T9
• LIV Golf Invitational Chicago: T45
• LIV Golf Invitational Jeddah: T29

Major championships

• Masters Tournament: T2
• PGA Championship: T58
• U.S. Open: Missed Cut
• The Open: Missed Cut