Social Zone: Awkward press conference for Saudi-backed LIV Golf, plus is Phil Mickelson a stooge?

Seb SternikSeb Sternik8 June 2022
USA's Phil Mickelson

USA's Phil Mickelson

The controversial new tournament LIV Golf was always going to get a hard time from the media, but it appears the competition’s PR team are yet to learn how to handle the heat.

The event, which has attracted some of the world's biggest stars thanks to a bottomless pit of Saudi cash, gets underway this weekend at the Centurion Club in London. 

Ahead of the action, some of the players appeared at the official press conference, one which in the words of Kevin Na, got a bit 'uncomfortable'.

After a barrage of tough questions about money, greed and morals, the media were keen to explore another potentially touchy subject of deferred payments.
At this point, the LIV Golf media team sprung into action and shut down the press conference, saying that the allotted time had run its course. Surprise, surprise.
One of the journalists clearly outlined the reasons why joining the Saudi-backed tournament might be a tad controversial.
Check out those smiles at the end of the question though.

All this talk of politics and golf got me thinking about the time George Bush gave a rousing speech to the camera before firing off a mean drive...

One man who came out fighting against LIV Golf was Eamon Lynch of the Golf Channel.
He was particularly disappointed with Phil Mickelson, even going as far as branding the six-time major winner a 'stooge'.
All this talk of arguments, name-calling, human rights abuses - it's all a bit negative for a Wednesday morning.

With that in mind, let's end social zone with this classy moment from Heung-min Son.

Only the Spurs striker could be polite enough to stop an argument between two opposing players. What a man. 

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