Brandel Chamblee tears into Phil Mickelson over failed LIV Golf 'chess move'

Brandel Chamblee has never been shy in expressing his opinions on all things LIV Golf through the years.

Now, with the news that the breakaway tour is no more, Chamblee has taken aim at Phil Mickelson, accusing the American of “arrogance” over his previous comments about the future of the tour.

One of the first players to make the move over to LIV, Mickelson was always one of its prominent figures, defending the Saudi-backed tour at every opportunity.

Former PGA Tour player and current Golf Channel analyst Chamblee has wasted no time in reminding the six-time major winner about his remarks a few years ago, however.

In October 2023, Mickelson took to X to suggest that LIV Golf was playing the long game: 

“Stating facts isn’t whining and I don’t care if LIV ever gets points. This is move 6 in a long game of chess. You won’t believe moves 32-37. That’s when it gets REALLY good.”

Chamblee has waited three years to responded to these comments and he didn’t hold back when the opportunity came up.

"The arrogance, Phil Mickelson had a tweet where he said 'this is a chess move'… portending some ominous event into the future that was gonna devastate the PGA Tour and DP World Tour. As we know, it did not happen"

Ouch.

Mickelson wasn’t the only talking point either, with Chamblee questioning the financial demands of the players looking to make up the proposed LIV 2.0.

Chamblee delivers brutal verdict on LIV Golf players

Speaking on the Golf Channel, the 64-year-old suggested that the players had overestimated their commercial value, which eventually contributed to the failure of negotiations and questioned whether they believed LIV 2.0 could become a genuine success.

“You can point the finger at a lot of places here, but in order for it to have gone forward, you needed some cooperation from whatever players were going to make up this LIV 2.0,” said Chamblee.

“The players and player representatives, from what I’ve read, were making financial demands that could not be met.”

The analyst even questioned why players weren’t keen on taking ownership shares in LIV 2.0 heading into the new era, underlining that many had little faith in the future direction under Scott O’Neil.

“They all thought that they were beachfront property in Malibu, and the market was telling them, no, you’re timeshares in Toledo.”

Several of LIV’s biggest names now face an uncertain future as 2027 approaches. 

Mickelson hasn’t played competitively since March this year due to an “ongoing family health issue” and it appears the chess game he confidently predicted a few years ago is going to come and haunt him.

Chamblee won’t be letting him forget about it anytime soon.