Golf World Reacts To Callaway Golf ‘Pausing’ Sponsorship With Phil Mickelson

• Phil Mickelson appears to be on the verge of losing yet another sponsor after his comments about the PGA Tour.
• Callaway has said it is set to “pause” its relationship with the six-time major winner.
• Be sure to check out more golf stories at BroBible here.

The hits just keep on coming for Phil Mickelson, and the latest one may be the biggest blow yet.

Callaway golf announced on Friday night that it plans to “pause” its relationship with Mickelson, who has played and endorsed the clubs since 2004. The brand has already scrubbed Mickelson from its website and YouTube channel.

“Callaway does not condone Phil Mickelson’s comments and we were very disappointed in his choice of words – they in no way reflect our values or what we stand for as a company,’’ Callaway said in a statement.

“Phil has since apologized and we know he regrets how he handled recent events. We recognize his desire to take some time away from the game and respect that decision. At this time, we have agreed to pause our partnership and will re-evaluate our ongoing relationship at a later date.’’

Callaway’s decision to “pause” the relationship comes in the aftermath of Mickelson’s scathing comments about the PGA Tour in an interview with Alan Shipnuck at The Fire Pit Collective.

Mickelson called the Tour a “dictatorship” while emphasizing there needs to be a change in golf. In the same interview, he essentially backed the Saudi Golf League, but also called the Saudis “scary motherf–kers” and murderers.

Callaway Stepping Away From Phil As Phil Steps Away From Golf

The lefty was trying to leverage the PGA Tour into making changes by having conversations with the Saudi Golf League, but that has backfired terribly.

Mickelson apologized a few days after his comments about the PGA Tour were published. He claimed that the conversation he had with Shipnuck was off the record, which Shipnuck immediately denied.

Not once did Mickelson mention the PGA Tour or commissioner Jay Monahan by name in his lengthy apology. He did however manage to mention LIV Golf Investments, the brains of the Saudi operation, in his statement.

Mickelson offered his sponsors “the option to pause or end the relationship” in his apology and Callaway is the latest sponsor to take him up on his offer.

Callaway Splitting With Mickelson Seems Harsh

Callaway has other golfers on tours around the world to represent as best they can. Even with that in mind, kicking Mickelson to the curb after he’s been the face of your brand for well over a decade seems harsh, but also soft. Let’s not kid ourselves, given the temperature of the situation right now, this “pause” will turn into a permanent split sooner rather than later.

It’s interesting that it took Callaway a full eight days between Mickelson’s original comments and them coming to this decision to “pause” things. It’s clear Callaway didn’t want to be the first brand to bolt from Mickelson, but they hopped on the anti-Mickelson train eventually.

KPMG was the first sponsor to cut ties with Mickelson while Amstel Light made the same decision shortly after. Workday is set to end its relationship once their current deal with Mickelson is over.

Mickelson announced he’ll be taking some time away from the game and his sponsors are now taking some time away from him.

Here’s a look at how the golf world reacted to the news:

https://twitter.com/Lou_TireWorld/status/1497385526260862981?s=20&t=BCHoqT_cMlV75iJfkTKm8Q

https://twitter.com/DannyDubbb/status/1497392602584215558?s=20&t=BCHoqT_cMlV75iJfkTKm8Q