Tag: Alan Shipnuck

Q&A: Alan Shipnuck goes deep about his new book ‘LIV and Let Die’

“It took a piece of my soul, but it was a super fun challenge.”

Alan Shipnuck’s latest book, “LIV and Let Die,” which went on sale on Oct. 17 (Simon & Schuster: $32.50), may be his best book yet – which is saying something.

Shipnuck, a longtime golf writer who now writes at the Fire Pit Collective, chronicles what he terms “the battle for the soul of the game” between the PGA Tour and the Saudi Arabia-funded LIV Golf League.

But this is a book – and a subject – that jumped off the sports page and onto the front page. It’s much bigger than just PGA Tour vs. LIV and he tackles it all.

Most impressively, Shipnuck succeeds in what I call “The Finding Nemo” test. Remember the Disney feel-good movie from 20 years ago? It was made for kids but there were so many one-liners and scenes that made the parents who had to sit through it cackle out loud. This book, which provides a history lesson on the last 50-plus years of the professional game, will be enjoyed by casual and non-golf fans alike but there’s so much new reporting and colorful, fresh anecdotes for even the most ardent golf fan and industry lifers.

With lawsuits flying and government interest of concern to his sources, Shipnuck has to rely on more off-the-record material and quotes than you’d typically like to see but in this case the trade-off seems worth it for the minutiae he digs up that confirm our suspicions to the various behind-the-scenes dealings by Saudi leadership and those in the Tour offices. And his trademark glib style means it can read a bit like the Page Six gossip column at times, but Alan’s gonna Alan!

He’s turned sections that could be drier than toast into a page-turner and every time I finished a chapter and thought, ‘OK, I need to do this chore or get some sleep’, it pained me to put it down, and usually I just powered on. That’s what a good book does, #amirite?

In this Q&A, Shipnuck shares a lot on how the sausage was made and sprinkles in some spicy takes along the way.

Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka say PGA Tour, LIV Golf players are ‘sick’ of Alan Shipnuck after latest book excerpt

“Bring positivity and good stories to help grow the game of golf, not try and make money bashing guys,” said JT.

Justin Thomas is enjoying a little extended vacation this week in Italy after he and Team USA lost the 2023 Ryder Cup to Europe near Rome.

The 30-year-old two-time major champion went 1-2-1 at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, where his lone win came during Sunday singles against Sepp Straka, 2 up. Thomas, who now holds a 7-4-2 record in the Ryder Cup, also attended Patrick Cantlay’s wedding down the road in Rome on Monday, a day after the U.S. lost the Cup.

While on his vacation, Thomas took to social media to respond to a 3,000-word excerpt of Alan Shipnuck’s new book, “LIV and Let Die: The Inside Story of the War between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf” that was shared on Wednesday. The book is available Oct. 17.

The excerpt included some juicy and Not Safe For Work comments about the battle for supremacy in professional golf over the last two and a half years, but Thomas didn’t much care for what was shared.

In response to part of the book where a former Ryder Cup teammate is critical of Rory McIlroy, Thomas spoke up “on behalf of a lot of Tour players” to say they are “sick” of Shipnuck “doing what he does.”

Brooks Koepka – who was featured in the excerpt with an expletive-riddled take on “country club kids who talk (expletive) about me,” allegedly referring to the likes of Thomas, Jordan Spieth and others – said LIV Golf players feel the same way about the Fire Pit Collective writer and author.

It didn’t take long for Shipnuck to join the party and defend himself online, saying that Thomas wants “PR or hagiography, not journalism.” He also defended his use of anonymous sources, who gave a few of the more controversial opinions.

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LIV Golf kicks Phil Mickelson’s biographer, Alan Shipnuck, out of news conference

Maybe Phil Mickelson has had enough of Alan Shipnuck or Greg Norman wanted to make a point.

Maybe Phil Mickelson has had enough of Alan Shipnuck or Greg Norman wanted to make a point.

Either way, one of the strangest days in recent golf history ended at the Centurion Golf Club near London on Thursday evening with Shipnuck, the author of “Phil: The Rip-Roaring (and Unauthorized!) Biography of Golf’s Most Colorful Superstar,” being removed from what’s known as the flash interview area at the LIV Golf Invitational Series inaugural event.

Shipnuck, a partner for The Fire Pit Collective, traveled to the United Kingdom for the event and followed Mickelson during his opening round. Afterward, Mickelson spoke to members of the press, as is customary.

However, Shipnuck was not allowed to join.

He wrote on Twitter:

Well, a couple of neckless security dudes just physically removed me from Phil Mickelson’s press conference, saying they were acting on orders from their boss, whom they refused to name. (Greg Norman? MBS? Al Capone?) Never a dull moment up in here.

Golfweek reached out to Shipnuck, who replied in a text message: “I was credentialed and I was standing in the flash area at the start of Phil’s presser when they came for me.”

Not allowing a credentialed press member to attend a player’s press conference is unheard of on other golf tours, but things got stranger in the moments afterward.

Shipnuck sent text messages to LIV Golf’s commissioner, Greg Norman, to point out the incident, and Norman replied that he had not heard about it. Shipnuck did not know when he sent the message that Norman had seen the whole thing.

In an email to Golfweek, Shipnuck said: “I have no ill will toward Phil. I just wanted to ask him one boring golf question, which is my job. Either he is being way too sensitive or the LIV folks are being too overprotective but, either way, they are overreacting.”

This incident comes two days after Associated Press reporter Rob Harris was cut off, removed from the LIV media center and reprimanded by LIV officials for not being “polite.” Harris was allowed back into the media center about 10 minutes later, according to ESPN.

“The security guards were inappropriately aggressive and physical, considering I was just standing there trying to make sense of the bizarre reasons they were citing for wanting to remove me,” Shipnuck said.

The second round of the LIV Golf London event is Friday at 9:30 a.m. ET time. LIV Golf does not have a TV deal but is streaming the tournament on its YouTube channel.

“This whole situation is messy and ridiculous,” Shipnuck said to Golfweek. “If I have another boring golf question for Phil I’ll ask it because I did fly 6,000 miles to be here and I’m not inclined to be silenced by Greg Norman and his goons.

“Or maybe I’ll just focus on Chantananuwat Ratchanon. … he seems like a nice kid.”

Golfweek’s Steve DiMeglio contributed to this article.

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Book review: Alan Shipnuck presents the good and bad sides of Phil Mickelson and lets the reader decide

Golf fans get a good read but don’t get their fill of Phil in Shipnuck’s “Rip-Roaring” biography of Mickelson.

Wherever it is that Phil Mickelson is laying low this week, he must be thinking, “if only I hadn’t called Alan Shipnuck.”

Without Mickelson opening his big mouth and telling his unvarnished thoughts on the Saudis behind a renegade golf league (“scary motherf—–s”), Shipnuck still would have produced a read that is a rollicking good time, but it wouldn’t be the talk of the town – and Phil likely wouldn’t be skipping his title defense of this week’s PGA Championship and on sabbatical from what has been a Hall of Fame career.

Who is the real Phil Mickelson? Phil: The Rip-Roaring (and unauthorized) Biography of Golf’s Most Colorful Superstar seeks that answer. Shipnuck, longtime golf writer for Sports Illustrated and Golf and now a partner in the Firepit Collective, reflects back to something Mickelson said to him during a confrontation that he highlights in the book’s introduction. “It was meant as a taunt but became the challenge that animated this book: ‘You think you know me but you don’t.’”

Think about it: for as much Phil has spent the last 30+ years under a microscope he’s done a masterful job of protecting his private life. We’ve never seen him play golf with any of his kids. Everything about Phil that he shares has felt very calculated, as Shipnuck notes even his psoriatic arthritis diagnosis netted him an endorsement opportunity.

Shipnuck paints Phil as “a smart-ass who built an empire on being the consummate professional; a loving husband dogged by salacious rumors; a gambler who knows the house always wins but can’t help himself, anyway; an intensely private person who loves to talk about himself.”

He’s always been the proverbial riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. But by the time you finish this page-turner you’ll have a better idea who you think Phil is. I suspect Phil’s fan base will find reasons anew to adore him even more while his detractors will find fresh ammo to argue that he’s one of the all-time phonies.

The opening chapter sets a wonderful pace going from one outrageous story to another – it feels like Shipnuck gathered a bunch of Phil’s acquaintances around a campfire and they’re dishing their best of collection of Phil tales and said, ‘I can top that.’

My favorite part of the book may be the early chapters before Phil turned pro. Kudos to Shipnuck for tracking down childhood friends and college pals and presenting popped-collar Phil in all his frat-boy glory for some fresh stories of beer-swilling, money games and competitions, egos and envy before Phil really became Phil.

Shipnuck takes us inside the highs and lows of his PGA Tour career, and is at his best in the section on Mickelson’s collapse at Winged Foot, but short-changed his stunning victory at age 50 in the 2021 PGA Championship. That chapter is a mere six pages.

The book is a breezy read, weighing in at just 239 pages. You know how you go to a movie you really wanted to see and you leave wishing they had cut out at least 45 minutes (I’m looking at you, latest James Bond flick)? Well, Shipnuck’s Phil bio is the opposite. He easily could’ve written another 50, 75, dare I say 100 more pages and readers surely would have eaten them up like cat nip. In short, we didn’t get our fill of Phil.

Who is Phil? Shipnuck presents both the good and bad and leaves it to the reader to decide where they come out in the end. Leave it to two of his longtime Tour breathren to describe him best: “People ask me what he’s like,” says Brian Gay, “and I say, ‘If you ask Phil Mickelson what time it is he’ll tell you how to build a watch.’ ”

And then there’s Stewart Cink: “There are so many stories, but they all have one thing in common: juice. Doesn’t matter what form the juice takes. Needling in the locker room is juice. Money games during practice rounds is juice. Trying to pull off crazy shots with a tournament on the line is definitely juice. Criticizing Tiger’s equipment when he’s on a historic run is a lot of things, but it’s also juice. Phil loves math and computations, and where that stuff meets juice is Vegas, so of course Phil loves it there. When you know you don’t have an advantage, but you still want to bet large amounts? That’s juice. Phil is an all-time juice guy.”

While the juiciest material already has been squeezed out and released in excerpts, this book has plenty of juice. I’m still not convinced Shipnuck got to the bottom of the parting of Phil and Bones after 25 years together, but at least Shipnuck called as he put it, “B.S.” and advanced the story. It’s a second-hand quote – as Bones didn’t participate directly in the book either – but this shot from Bones is telling nonetheless.

“Nobody knows Phil Mickelson. Nobody. I spent 25 years standing next to the guy and he’s still a total mystery to me.”

After all these years, Phil revealed too much of his inner thoughts when he phoned Shipnuck in November and spouted off about the Saudis, Jay Monahan and his true feelings about the inner workings of the PGA Tour. But as Shipnuck concludes, Phil is no stranger to controversy. “Somehow he always emerges with his vast fan base intact. Sports fans love a comeback and a redemption story. A more humble, more human, less cartoonish Mickelson figures to be more popular than ever. Come what may, he will survive, because he survives everything.”

What will Phil do next? The way he eventually handles the fall out of his inflammatory comments may shape his legacy in the game and reveal once and for all, who is Phil.

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‘Not fun to be around’ Tiger Woods, Charles Barkley says, but with Phil Mickelson ‘you’re guaranteed to have fun’

As biographer Alan Shipnuck writes, Barkley is one of the few people in the inner circles of both Phil and Tiger.

The Phil Mickelson news cycle keeps churning, with the latest revelation centered on $40 million in gambling losses.

Alan Shipnuck, author of the forthcoming Mickelson biography, “Phil: The Rip-Roaring (and Unauthorized!) Biography of Golf’s Most Colorful Superstar,” revealed that and more Thursday on the Fire Pit Collective.

Shipnuck’s book will be released May 17, the Tuesday of PGA Championship week.

The bulk of the latest reveal peels back the curtain on Mickelson’s prolific gambling losses, an interesting part has to do with Charles Barkley.

As Shipnuck writes, Barkley is one of the few people in the inner circles of both Mickelson and Tiger Woods:

“One of the reasons Phil has lasted so long is because he’s had a joyful life,” said Barkley. “Tiger won a bunch of tournaments, but there wasn’t much joy in it. Sure, Tiger is a better golfer. You’re just in awe of his talent. But it’s not fun to be around him. Everyone in his world is uptight and shit, afraid to say or do the wrong thing. Tiger himself has always acted like he’s under siege. Gimme a f—– break. You’re just a golfer, dude. When you’re with Phil, you’re guaranteed to have fun. He makes people feel good. Everyone around him is always smiling. That’s a huge difference, man.”

Barkley’s friendship with Tiger goes back many years but Barkley became good friends with Mickelson along the way. In November of 2020, the two teamed up to win The Match against Steph Curry and Peyton Manning at Stone Canyon north of Tucson, on a golf course Mickelson owned at the time.

A year later, Mickelson and Barkley served as analysts in Las Vegas during the fifth installment of Capital One’s The Match, which pitted Bryson DeChambeau against Brooks Koepka.

“Charles is one of the funniest people I know and he’s one of the quickest wit,” Mickelson said at the time.

Mickelson is the defending champion of the PGA. He’s registered for the tournament but it’s unknown if he’ll play. The PGA of America will release the final field Monday.

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Author Alan Shipnuck fires back at Phil Mickelson, says claims comments were off the record are false

Mickelson also said his November interview with Shipnuck was off the record. Shipnuck fired back.

Alan Shipnuck recently reported the explosive comments Phil Mickelson made about the PGA Tour and the Saudi Arabia-backed, Greg Norman-led Super Golf League that would be a direct rival of the PGA Tour.

In a statement released Tuesday by Mickelson, he called his comments “reckless,” apologized, said he had made mistakes and needed to be held accountable.

Mickelson also said his November interview with Shipnuck was off the record.

Shipnuck fired back. The writer for the Fire Pit Collective and author of the soon-to-be-released “Phil: The Rip-Roaring (and Unauthorized!) Biography of Golf’s Most Colorful Superstar,” stands by the excerpt from his book about Mickelson saying he was one of the architects behind the proposed Saudi Arabia league and despite the country’s oppressive regime, he hoped to use the league that is guaranteeing exorbitant amounts of money as leverage against the PGA Tour.

“He sent me a text on the morning the excerpt dropped. He was less than thrilled,” Shipnuck wrote in a column on the Fire Pit Collective. “Just as in the statement he released on Tuesday afternoon, Mickelson made a half-hearted attempt at revisionist history, trying to say our talk had been a private conversation, but I shut that down real quick.

“He knew I was working on a book about him and asked to speak, saying he wanted to discuss media rights and his grievances with the PGA Tour, both of which inevitably lead back to Saudi Arabia. If the subject of a biography phones the author, the content of that conversation is always going to inform the book, unless it is expressly agreed otherwise.”

There was no agreement, Shipnuck said.

“Not once in our texts or when we got on the phone did Mickelson request to go off-the-record and I never consented to it; if he had asked, I would have pushed back hard, as this was obviously material I wanted for the book,” Shipnuck wrote. “Mickelson simply called me up and opened a vein. To claim now that the comments were off-the-record is false and duplicitous.”

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Phil Mickelson releases statement concerning Saudi Arabia, admits making mistakes and says he’s taking time away from the game

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Just five minutes before a player meeting began at the Honda Classic, Phil Mickelson addressed unflattering comments about the PGA Tour and others associated with the proposed Saudi Arabia-backed, Greg Norman-led Super …

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Just five minutes before a player meeting began at the Honda Classic, Phil Mickelson addressed unflattering comments about the PGA Tour and others associated with the proposed Saudi Arabia-backed, Greg Norman-led Super Golf League that would siphon off some of the game’s biggest stars and rival the PGA Tour.

In a statement issued by Mickelson, the World Golf Hall of Fame member and six-time major champion also took issue with the person that reported the comments – Alan Shipnuck of the Firepit Collective and author of the soon-to-be-released “Phil: The Rip-Roaring (and Unauthorized!) Biography of Golf’s Most Colorful Superstar.” And in the nearly 550-word release, Mickelson said he was going to take time off and “work on being the man I want to be.”

“Although it doesn’t look this way now given my recent comments, my actions throughout this process have always been with the best interest of golf, my peers, sponsors, and fans,” Mickelson wrote. “There is the problem of off-record comments being shared out of context and without my consent, but the bigger issue is that I used words I sincerely regret that do not reflect my true feelings or intentions. It was reckless, I offended people, and I am deeply sorry for my choice of words. I’m beyond disappointed and will make every effort to self-reflect and learn from this.”

Mickelson told Shipnuck that he was one of the architects behind the proposed Saudi Arabia league and said he hoped to use the league that is guaranteeing exorbitant amounts of money as leverage against the PGA Tour.

“They’re scary mother——s to get involved with,” Mickelson said of the repressive regime of Saudi Arabia. “We know they killed (Washington Post reporter and US resident Jamal) Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights. They execute people over there for being gay.

“Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates. They’ve been able to get by with manipulative, coercive, strong-arm tactics because we, the players, had no recourse. As nice a guy as (PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan) comes across as, unless you have leverage, he won’t do what’s right.

“And the Saudi money has finally given us that leverage.”

Earlier this year, Mickelson told Golf Digest that the PGA Tour’s “greed” was “beyond obnoxious.”

In an excerpt from the book, Shipnuck wrote: “Not once did (Mickelson) say our conversation was off-the-record or on background or just between us or anything remotely like that. He simply opened a vein.”

Despite nine of the top 12 players in the world publicaly stating they are staying with the Tour – Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau joined the growing chorus last week – Mickelson said change needs to come to professional golf.

“Golf desperately needs change, and real change is always preceded by disruption,” Mickelson said. “I have always known that criticism would come with exploring anything new. I still chose to put myself at the forefront of this to inspire change, taking the hits publicly to do the work behind the scenes.

“My experience with LIV Golf Investments has been very positive. I apologize for anything I said that was taken out of context. The specific people I have worked with are visionaries and have only been supportive.

“More importantly they passionately love golf and share my drive to make the game better. They have a clear plan to create an updated and positive experience for everyone including players, sponsors, networks, and fans.”

But it seems Mickelson was stung by criticism aimed his way, including pointed comments from Rory McIlroy and Billy Horschel.

“I don’t want to kick someone while he’s down, obviously, but I thought they were naive, selfish, egotistical, ignorant,” McIlroy said after the final round of last week’s Genesis Invitational. “A lot of words to describe that interaction he had with Shipnuck. It was just very surprising and disappointing, sad. I’m sure he’s sitting at home sort of rethinking his position and where he goes from here.”

Mickelson went with a statement.

“I have made a lot of mistakes in my life and many have been shared with the public,” Mickelson said. “My intent was never to hurt anyone and I’m so sorry to the people I have negatively impacted. This has always been about supporting the players and the game and I appreciate all the people who have given me the benefit of the doubt.

“Despite my belief that some changes have already been made within the overall discourse, I know I need to be accountable. For the past 31 years I have lived a very public life and I have strived to live up to my own expectations, be the role model the fans deserve, and be someone that inspires others. I’ve worked to compete at the highest level, be available to media, represent my sponsors with integrity, engage with volunteers and sign every autograph for my incredible fans.

“I have experienced many successful and rewarding moments that I will always cherish, but I have often failed myself and others too.  The past 10 years I have felt the pressure and stress slowly affecting me at a deeper level.  I know I have not been my best and desperately need some time away to prioritize the ones I love most and work on being the man I want to be.”

 

Phil Mickelson trashes PGA Tour, explains why he’s in talks with ‘scary motherf—–s’ to join breakaway Saudi golf league

Phil Mickelson: “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates.”

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — If you thought Phil Mickelson had laid his cards on the table when he called the PGA Tour “obnoxiously greedy,” you ain’t seen nothing yet.

In an interview with Alan Shipnuck of the Fire Pit Collective, author of the forthcoming book “Phil: The Rip-Roaring(and Unauthorized!) Biography of Golf’s Most Colorful Superstar,” Mickelson didn’t hold back in trashing the PGA Tour and explaining why he’s been engaged in conversations about joining the Saudi Golf League. As Shipnuck put it, he “opened a vein.”

Here are some of the juiciest excerpts.

Of partnering with Saudi Arabia in a much-ballyhooed breakaway Saudi Golf League, Mickelson explained why he would even consider it:

“They’re scary mother (insert six-letter obscenity here) to get involved with,” he said. “We know they killed [Washington Post reporter and U.S. resident Jamal] Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights. They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates. They’ve [the PGA Tour] been able to get by with manipulative, coercive, strong-arm tactics because we, the players, had no recourse. As nice a guy as [PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan] comes across as, unless you have leverage, he won’t do what’s right. And the Saudi money has finally given us that leverage. I’m not sure I even want [the SGL] to succeed, but just the idea of it is allowing us to get things done with the [PGA] Tour.”

Of his desire to gain possession of media rights:

“They are sitting on hundreds of millions of dollars worth of digital content we could be using for our social media feeds. The players need to own all of that. We played those shots, we created those moments, we should be the ones to profit. The Tour doesn’t need that money. They are already sitting on an $800 million cash stockpile. How do you think they’re funding the PIP? Or investing $200 million in the European Tour? The Tour is supposed to be a nonprofit that distributes money to charity. How the (hell) is it legal for them to have that much cash on hand? The answer is, it’s not. But they always want more and more. They have to control everything. Their ego won’t allow them to make the concessions they need to.”

PIF Saudi International 2022
Phil Mickelson smiles during a practice round prior to the PIF Saudi International at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club on February 2, 2022 in Saudi Arabia. (Photo: Oisin Keniry/Getty Images)

On how he’d like the Tour’s policy structure to be reimagined:

“The Tour likes to pretend it’s a democracy, but it’s really a dictatorship,” Mickelson told Shipnuck. “They divide and conquer. The concerns of the top players are very different from the guys who are lower down on the money list, but there’s a lot more of them. They use the top guys to make their own situation better, but the top guys don’t have a say.”

Mickelson’s idea for governance is, according to Shipnuck, based on the U.S. Congress. The Tour’s vast middle class would be like the House, voting on ideas that would then be rejected or tweaked and ultimately ratified by a much smaller Senate-like body composed of the game’s biggest stars. “That way nothing will get done without the approval of both sides,” Mickelson says.

Mickelson on the likelihood the SGL goes forward:

“I know 20 guys who want to do this and if the Tour doesn’t do the right thing, there is a high likelihood it’s going to happen.”

Mickelson is talking a big game, but is he just bluffing about leaving for the SGL and leveraging the threat for as many concessions as possible (PIP, bigger purses, bonus money for playing 15 events so far)? Will the Tour call his bluff?

Only time will tell.

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