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McIlroy was again asked about the recent statements made by Phil
Mickelson and the swift condemnation that ensued from players
and sponsors of the eight-time major winner.
"Look, we all make mistakes; we all say things we want to take
back," said McIlroy, the 2018 winner at Bay Hill in Orlando,
Fla. "No one is different in that regard. But we should be
allowed to make mistakes, and we should be allowed to ask for
forgiveness and for people to forgive us and move on.
"Hopefully, he comes back at some stage, and he will, and people
will welcome him back and be glad that he is back."
Mickelson's exile might not end quickly. He was quickly vilified
for comments regarding support of a Saudi Arabia-backed Super
Golf League, saying he was willing to overlook humanitarian
atrocities in order to get a negotiating upper hand on the PGA
Tour.
"It is unfortunate," McIlroy said about the backlash Mickelson
has absorbed. "I think Phil has been a wonderful ambassador for
the game of golf, still is a wonderful ambassador for the game
of golf. It's unfortunate that a few comments that he thought he
was making in confidence or off the record got out there and
were -- not used against him, but this whole situation is
unfortunate."
Mickelson said his November interview with writer Alan Shipnuck,
that led to his controversial comments, was off the record.
According to GolfWeek, Shipnuck said that "not once" did
Mickelson go off the record with his comments.
Shipnuck had been working on a book titled "Phil: The
Rip-Roaring (and Unauthorized!) Biography of Golf's Most
Colorful Superstar."
Yet, while McIlroy seemed ready to get past the Mickelson
controversy, PGA Tour pro Pat Perez still had some harsh
language left over the entire incident.
"His apology was such horse (expletive)," Perez said on GOLF's
Subpar podcast. "In the fact that he thought he was trying to
make it better for the players. He was in it for one reason. If
anybody thinks he wasn't in it for his own pocket, and his
pocket only, is (expletive) high. They are (expletive) crazy.
"He was in it for himself. Why he went down two different
avenues and basically buried himself on both, I can't figure it
out."
--Field Level Media
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