Pat Perez Really Hates Phil Mickelson For Some Mysterious "Unforgiveable" Reason
We've got trouble in LIV paradise!
For the vast majority of his career, Pat Perez existed mostly outside the public eye—an average-ish PGA Tour player, he was known mostly for his hair, his Jordan collection and for being one of the funnier guys on the PGA Tour.
That's all changed over the last year. Thanks to Dustin Johnson's kindness, Perez got paid $10 million to join LIV Golf, then rode DJ's coattails to team victory after team victory. He did come through with a clutch two-under 70 on the final day of the team championship to help the 4 Aces to a W, which came with a $4 million bonus for each of the four members. And he was pumped.
Still, Perez made over $8 million in addition to the initial $10 million this year while playing golf that would've seen him miss cuts on the PGA Tour. And he did so unapologetically. In the process, he became something of a posterboy for the LIV cash-grab.
He also does not like Phil Mickelson. Not even one bit. We got a preview of this back in February, when Perez threw shade at Phil for what he perceived to be a highly greedy LIV move. (No, seriously, Perez did a total 180 when they offered him that bag). But he also referenced some mysterious stuff going on in Phil's life.
'I don't know what Phil's doing," Perez said at the Genesis Invitaitonal. "I know Phil's got a lot of stress in life right now and I don't know what he's doing. I know he's not speaking for me and, you know, I actually really don't care what he has to say about anything because I just don't. He doesn't speak for me."
Seemed a little…testy. And he was far more direct in a recent appearance on Claude Harmon III's podcast. (Claude is the son of legendary instructor Butch and current teacher to Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Perez).
"When it comes to Phil, I have a different hate for Phil than most people," Perez said. "People won't know the story, I'm not going to go into the story again, but Phil crossed the line with me that is just uncrossable and unforgivable.
"He knows that he screwed up. He apologized for the accident, but I cannot forgive him for it because I've known Phil for a long, long time. I've known the guy forever. And the fact that when he made this action, not only was it - he had intentions of doing it. He was already—he knew it was going to happen before it happened and when he did it—I was hurt for one. I was like 'how can this guy do this?'"
Yikes. Not gonna speculate as to what the unforgivable act might have been, but I'm gonna venture to guess it's more serious than talking during his backswing.