Friday marked the opening round of the third LIV Golf Series event. This week, the Greg Norman-led, Saudi-backed circuit is in New Jersey at Trump Bedminster. Former President Donald Trump was at his golf course Thursday for the pro-am where he played with Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau.
While Phil Mickelson didn’t play in the pro-am, he was good to go for the start of the event. When he stepped up to the first tee, a fan in the crowd thought it was the perfect time for a heckle.
If you’ve ever seen “Happy Gilmore,” this spectator was very much like Donald in his trash-talk execution. It was perfectly timed.
Phil Mickelson gets heckled as he is about to tee off at the Saudi golf event on Trump’s course: “You work for the Saudi royal family!” pic.twitter.com/0QLwYcjdqK
— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) July 29, 2022
It’s unsure exactly what the fan yelled, as Twitter has been going back and forth between:
“Do it for the Saudi Royal Family!” and “You work for the Saudi Royal Family!”
Either way, the players who decided to desert the PGA Tour are hearing it this week in New Jersey, despite many in attendance being seemingly unfazed by the looming dark cloud that follows the LIV Golf Series due to its backers.
LIV Golf has long been criticized as a way for the Kingdom to sportswash its human rights record. Saudi Arabia has been accused of wide-ranging human rights abuses, including politically motivated killings, torture, forced disappearances and inhumane treatment of prisoners. And members of the royal family and Saudi government were accused of involvement in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist.
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