'It's His Problem, Not Ours' - Thomas Reacts To Mickelson Saga

Speaking at TPC Sawgrass, the scene of Thomas' Players Championship success in 2021, the American gave his thoughts on the recent comments made by Phil Mickelson and the strength of the PGA Tour.

The Mickelson saga has been ongoing for months now, with the six-time Major champion accusing the PGA Tour of "obnoxious greed" in reference to its stance on media rights, as well as admitting that his allegiance to the reported Saudi Golf League is a ruse to leverage the Tour.

Due to the severe backlash of his recent comments to journalist and author of Mickelson's new biography, Alan Shipnuck, the six-time Major champion issued a statement. However, it has still left a sour taste in the mouth of most PGA Tour players, with Thomas stating that Mickelson made an: "Egotistical statement.”

With Mickelson reportedly set to take a break from the game, the question arises on if his reputation has been tarnished following his comments. For Thomas, he is unsure: "I guess it just depends on who you ask," explains the 14 time PGA Tour winner.

"The things he has said, he said and the way he feels, he feels. He's obviously very passionate and feels very strongly about certain ways and has made that very vocal. At this point, as much as I hate to say it, it's his problem and not ours.

"I think the stuff he has done and said kind of speaks for itself. I'm not really worried about what he's doing. He's a lot different stage of his career than I am. I'm just focused on what I'm doing and not getting wrapped up in some of the stuff he's up to."

Thomas, who like a number of other PGA Professionals, has ruled himself out of the breakaway Saudi Golf League, has also applauded the recent work that the PGA Tour is doing to better itself as an Organisation.

"The Tour does an amazing job of trying to better its product for all of us players and everything in general," said the 28-year-old. "Guys are allowed to feel a certain way and it's not like everybody has to go down the same road.

"Guys play golf for different reasons, they're at different stages of their careers and nobody is wrong in thinking what they think. At the end of the day, I know where myself and a lot of people stand. We love it out here on the PGA Tour and don't want anything else.

"If other people want to go their separate way then go on with it. They don't need to drag it along and bring the Tour down with them, because the Tour's doing great and it's only getting better."

As well as Thomas, Rory McIlroy has also echoed his stance on both Mickelson and the breakaway SGL. Following his final round at the Genesis Invitational on Sunday, McIlroy called Mickelson's comments: "Naive, selfish, egotistical and ignorant", before going on to praise the PGA Tour and its efforts to improve its offerings.

"I feel like this is the best place to play golf if you're an elite professional golfer," said the four time Major champion. "Maybe I'm fortunate that I've been more privy to the inner workings of the Tour and I've been more involved and got quite a good relationship with the leadership team on the PGA Tour, Jay, Andy Pazder, Ross Berlin, all those sort of guys. 

"Every time I walk out of a meeting or walk out of any sort of interaction with them, I'm always very confident that the Tour's headed in the right direction. I was really glad to see DJ and Bryson put out those statements this week. We all want to play against the best players in the world and they're certainly two of the best players in the world and it's nice to know that they're committed to playing here and committed to making this the best tour in the world.

"I think it's nice now that we all can sit down and say, look, we're all on the same page here. Are there things the Tour could do better and they're working on, of course, but that's the same in any business, in any sports league around the world, they're all trying to get better just as the PGA Tour are."