Phil Mickelson ripped fellow golf star Fred Couples in a now-deleted social media post after Couples claimed that LIV Golf star Brooks Koepka is eyeing a return to the PGA Tour.
Mickelson said in a post on X on Tuesday that Couples pulled a “low class, jerk move” by seemingly revealing in a recent radio appearance that five-time major winner Koepka “wants” to return to the Tour after bolting to the Saudi-backed golf league in 2022.
“If it’s not true, he damaged a relationship which he cares about,” Mickelson wrote, which has since been deleted.
“If it is true, he took away Brook’s control of the timeline and narrative. Either way this is a low class jerk move by Fred.”
The post was in reference to comments Couples made during an appearance on KJR 93.3 FM in Seattle on Monday.
“I talk to Brooks Koepka all the time,” Couples said. “I love Brooks Koepka, and I’m not going to say anything extra except I talk to him all the time. … He wants to come back, I will say that. I believe he really wants to come back and play the Tour.”
Koepka left for the rival golf tour in 2022 ahead of the LIV’s inaugural season.
The back-and-forth this week follows a significant meeting at the White House last month attended by Tiger Woods, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.
The meeting, the second of its kind, was seen as a move toward ending the division between the two tours.
“Thanks to the leadership of President Trump, we have initiated a discussion about the reunification of golf,” the PGA Tour said in a joint statement.
The tour said it would share more details when appropriate, adding, “We are committed to moving as quickly as possible.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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