Veteran golf writer Bob Harig was in-flight on his way to to London for the debut of the controversial LIV Invitational Golf Series when the biggest get in the sport suddenly became available. Phil Mickelson was ready to talk.
In self-imposed exile since February, Mickelson was finally willing to answer questions about his comments on Saudi Arabia and his absence from the PGA Tour — all while Harig was mid-transit. Here is a portion of what Bob told this week’s Sports Media Watch podcast about the logistics of interviewing Mickelson:
“I had a flight from Tampa to Heathrow through Detroit and as I was on the plane I got word from one of the LIV Golf representatives [that] ‘we’re gonna try to get you set up with him during your layover.’ Huh? Well okay, I have really a less than two-hour layover. My wifi on the flight to Detroit was kinda spotty. I was really worried about my wifi on the flight from Detroit to Heathrow. Who knows how that’s going to go?
So, basically, I went into the Delta Sky Club. I got on a conference call. Phil called in. … I think it was ten after 5:00 ET that I got in with him and we were done at 5:30. … I didn’t record it. I was just taking notes as best I could on my computer. I’ve gotten good at that, decent enough. Still there’s a ton of typos. And I had sorta written an intro. It’s 5:30 and my flight is at 6:40, and for an international flight, you really risk it with not being there 30 minutes ahead of the flight. So, it’s 6:05 and I’m not quite done. So, I sent it to my editor and said, ‘you’re just gonna have to clean up a lot of these typos.'”
Hear the full conversation with Bob Harig, including him watching the online reaction to his scoop with Mickelson while he flew all night to England, by clicking the play button on our latest SMW Podcast here,
The 54 hole LIV Golf Invitational first tournament, with Mickelson in the field tees off Friday at the Centurion Club in London.
