Phil Mickelson, Brandel Chamblee get into heated, personal exchange on social media

Are you following the ugly social media war between Phil Mickelson and Brandel Chamblee? Of course, it all has its genesis via LIV and the concept of sportswashing.

Mickelson sees himself as one of the biggest defenders of LIV, the fledgling golf tour sponsored by the Saudi Arabian government. After all, he was the first big-name golfer to join the controversial tour. Meanwhile, Chamblee is the lead analyst for the Golf Channel’s tour coverage. And he also hosts the in-studio show, Golf Central.

A third party triggered this Phil Mickelson-Brandel Chamblee nasty back-and-forth.

Here’s how it unfolded. Claude Harmon is Brooks Koepka’s swing instructor. And Koepka is a LIV defector. His career is on a definitive upswing again this spring. He won the PGA last weekend. And in April, he was runner-up in The Masters. Harmon complained that the media isn’t treating the LIV golfers very well. Harmon specifically mentioned Chamblee, who he branded as a “paid actor.”

And mostly, Harmon went on these diatribes to defend Koepka. Here’s a taste:

“There couldn’t be anyone that got more grief for doing the LIV thing than Brooks,” Harmon said. “He got a big dose of the anti-LIV hate. And he got a big dose of ‘he’s a bum, he’s washed up.’ Listen, he’s a generational talent. He’s not like everyone else. Brooks is Aaron Rodgers. He’s a franchise quarterback in the NFL. In other sports terms, he’s a starting pitcher who just threw another no hitter, won another World Series, won another Cy Young. That’s who he is, he’s a player. He’s Kevin Durant. He’s one of those athletes that everybody in sports is saying get him on my team I don’t care how much I have to pay to get him. That’s the type of athlete he is … ”

Chamblee then posted a 500-word-plus essay on Twitter. Its gist was he speaks for himself, no one pays him to speak his mind about Saudi Arabia, LIV and sportswashing.

The farrago of whataboutisms that inevitably accompanies any discussion on sportswashing, attempts, in answering a condemnation with an accusation, to impugn the credibility of the accuser and to distract from having to deal with the complexities of the question. Much like…

— Brandel Chamblee (@chambleebrandel) May 24, 2023

Torched! Phil Mickelson called Brandel Chamblee a soft golfer

And this is where Mickelson starts throwing social media elbows. Mickelson quote tweeted an article about Chamblee’s response to Harmon.

“Poor Brandel,” Mickelson tweeted. “He can rip apart me and countless others but as soon as someone shows his ignorance he can’t handle it. He’s softer now than he was as a player.”

And Mickelson wasn’t finished. Someone posted “didn’t know he was a player…” So Mickelson qupped: “Perhaps I overshot a little.” While Chamblee’s pro golfing career doesn’t measure up to Mickelson’s, he still won four tournaments.

Wait, there’s more to this Phil Mickelson-Brandel Chamblee drama. Chamblee tweeted “Phil is welcome to come on the Live From set at the US Open to discuss the merits of playing for scary MFers, as he called them, and the Billy Walters book that comes out August 22… But my guess he’s too soft to come on and debate.”

Eventually, Mickelson noticed a key detail. Chamblee blocked him. It’s now Mickelson’s pinned tweet.

⛔️ BLOCKED — 🎙️😎 @PhilMickelson has been blocked by @chambleebrandel. Earlier today they called each other soft: 📸👇 pic.twitter.com/21u12EzdaZ

— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) May 26, 2023