Rory McIlroy launches stinging attack on Phil Mickelson over golf Super League

Rory McIlroy has taken a seven iron to Phil Mickelson – branding him “naive, selfish, egotistical and ignorant” over his Saudi Super League breakaway backing.

The Holywood star reckons golfing veteran Greg Norman’s plot is “dead in the water” because he failed to sign up Tiger Woods.

The four-time Major winner called the Saudi plan a “money grab” and compared the plan to the European Super League for elite football clubs last year with rumours about players jumping ship from the PGA and DP World Tours.

Asked if the threat was now over, McIlroy said: “Yeah, yeah. Who’s left? Who’s left to go? I mean, there’s no one. It’s dead in the water in my opinion.”

McIlroy was the first to oppose publicly any rebel tour from the start – and he has shown rare conviction and consistency in a sport which has traditionally valued dollars above morality.

And now after months of rumours over which players would jump ship from the PGA and DP World Tours, none officially did. Golf ’s attempt to set up a ring-fenced, big-money competition has collapsed just as spectacularly as the football version.

Mickelson’s shameless remarks over how he was using the Saudi breakaway to “leverage” change on the PGA Tour, while admitting the scheme was “sportswashing” by “scary motherf*****s”, were a fatal blow.

The domino effect which followed saw Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau – two players who had been open to offers – commit to the PGA Tour on Sunday.

By the time McIlroy walked off after his final round of the Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles on Sunday evening, no top-ranked players were left to be bought.

Asked if the threat was now over, McIlroy said: “Who’s left? Who’s left to go? There’s no one. It’s dead in the water, in my opinion.”

Jorda