Phil Mickelson has expressed his "deepest of sympathy and empathy" for the families of the 9/11 victims amid continued criticism over his decision to join the LIV Golf Invitational Series.
The controversial eight-event Saudi-backed breakaway circuit, which got under way in London last week, has a prize fund of $250million that is bankrolled by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF).
Mickelson and the other American players taking part in the series have been accused by a group representing victims' families and survivors of "sportswashing" – the practice of using sport to improve a tarnished reputation.
Terry Strada, the chair of the 9/11 Families United, said in a statement: "Whether it was the appeal of millions of dollars of hard cash, or just the opportunity to prosecute your professional grievances with the PGA, you have sold us out.
"This is a betrayal not only of us, but of all your countrymen."
Strada cited Saudi Arabia's prominent role in the terror attack 21 years ago, with Osama bin Laden and 15 of the 19 hijackers being Saudi nationals.
In another uncomfortable news conference on Monday ahead of this week's U.S. Open in Massachusetts, Mickelson was asked directly about Strada's comments.
"I would say to the Strada family, I would say to everyone that has lost loved ones, lost friends on 9/11 that I have deep, deep empathy for them. I can't emphasise that enough," he said.
"I have the deepest of sympathy and empathy for them."
Asked if he intended to respond privately to the letter, Mickelson repeated his earlier answer.
Mickelson and the others to have joined up for the series have also faced criticism from their colleagues, with Rory McIlroy – the winner of last week's Canadian Open – among the more vocal of those to speak out against the LIV Series.
"I certainly respect Rory," Mickelson said. "I thought what a great finish on Sunday and a great accomplishment. What a career he has had. I certainly respect him. I respect his ideas. I respect all the players that choose to stay on the PGA Tour.
"I certainly think extremely highly of many of the players on the PGA Tour and their right to their own decisions.
"I gave as much back to the PGA Tour and the game of golf that I could throughout my 30 years here, and through my accomplishments on the course I've earned a lifetime membership. I intend to keep that and then choose going forward which events to play and not."
Matt Fitzpatrick enjoys Ryder Cup birdie run as Europe continue momentum
Matt Fitzpatrick finally had a reason to enjoy the Ryder Cup as Europe aimed to build on their record-breaking start in Rome.
Captain Luke Donald’s decision to start with foursomes for the first time since 1993, the last US victory on European soil, paid handsome dividends as his side swept an opening session for the first time in the contest’s history.
Roared on by a partisan crowd, the home side never trailed at any point in all four matches and their opponents won just 10 holes all morning to fall 4-0 behind.
Fitzpatrick had failed to win a point in five matches across his previous two Ryder Cups, but both had been on away soil and none had been in his preferred fourball format.
That was rectified when he was sent out in the afternoon’s final match with Rory McIlroy and the 2022 US Open champion immediately made up for lost time.
Fitzpatrick birdied the second, third and fourth and then drove the green on the short fifth to set up an eagle which took the European pair four up on Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele.
Jon Rahm and Nicolai Hojgaard held a narrow lead over Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka in match two, with the other two matches all square.
Rahm had earlier partnered Tyrrell Hatton to a 4&3 win over Scheffler and Sam Burns, with Viktor Hovland and rookie Ludvig Aberg despatching Open champion Brian Harman and Max Homa by the same score.
Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka maintained the momentum with a 2&1 win over Rickie Fowler and Morikawa before McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood completed the rout by inflicting a first foursomes defeat on Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay.
Rahm and Hatton had acquired the nickname of “Team Angry” due to their fiery nature, but they could afford to be all smiles as they gelled superbly to get Europe off to the ideal start.
Rahm holed from 27 feet for birdie on the third and short range on the fifth, before hitting the pin with his tee shot on the par-three seventh to leave Hatton with a tap-in birdie.
The European pair looked set to lose the 10th until Rahm chipped in for an unlikely par and the Masters champion then drove the green on the short 11th and found the putting surface in two on the par-five 12th.
That led to a conceded eagle and the out-of-sorts American pair were soon put of their misery on the 15th.
“Extremely satisfying,” Rahm said. “I had a good feeling about Tyrrell all along. It was good to come out here and see him perform the way he did.
“It was an incredible foursome match and we played as confident as two people could play.”
Lowry admitted he was “losing my mind” standing on the first tee as he watched Hovland chip in for birdie up ahead on the green, but the former Open champion regained his composure in time to help rookie Straka earn a debut point.
“It’s huge,” Lowry said. “Obviously it’s early days but I wanted to give Sepp his moment in the Ryder Cup to hole the winning putt (on 17). We are off to a great start this morning. We need to keep the foot down.
“I would have liked to close out the match earlier because we had good chances, but it was nice to put a point on the board for Europe.”
A miserable morning for Zach Johnson’s side was epitomised in the bottom match, where Schauffele and Cantlay – who had boasted a 5-0 record in foursomes – won the 14th to halve their deficit and looked almost certain to get back to all square on the next following a wayward McIlroy drive.
However, Cantlay charged his birdie putt four feet past, Fleetwood holed from 20 feet to scramble a par and Schauffele then missed his par attempt.
The American duo did win the 16th with a birdie but McIlroy hit a superb tee shot to within three feet on the 17th and Schauffele, knowing he had to make his birdie attempt from 20 feet to have any chance, inexplicably left it short.
Fleetwood was left with the simple task of tapping in to complete a 2&1 victory and round off a barely-believable opening session for the European team.
“It’s been an unbelievable session,” McIlroy said. “We switched the format this year to go foursomes first because statistically that’s our better session.
“And all week all we’ve been talking about is getting off to fast starts. Playing three-hole matches in practise, three holes, go again, three holes, go again, something that Luke’s drilled into us.
“We were ready to go from the first tee shot as obviously as you can see in how everyone played.”
Europe complete Ryder Cup foursomes clean sweep to take 4-0 lead over USA
Europe’s bid to regain the Ryder Cup got off to a dream start as they stormed into a 4-0 lead over a shellshocked United States in Rome.
Captain Luke Donald’s decision to start with foursomes for the first time since 1993, the last US victory on European soil, paid handsome dividends as his side swept an opening session for the first time in the contest’s history.
Roared on by a partisan crowd, the home side never trailed at any point in all four matches and their opponents won just 10 holes all morning.
Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton claim first point as Europe dominate USA in Rome
An inspired Jon Rahm led from the front as Europe emphatically drew first blood in their bid to regain the Ryder Cup from the United States in Rome.
Rahm and partner Tyrrell Hatton had acquired the nickname of “Team Angry” due to their fiery nature, but they were all smiles as they stormed to a 4&3 victory over world number one Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns.
The lead was soon doubled as Viktor Hovland and rookie Ludvig Aberg enjoyed victory over Open champion Brian Harman and Max Homa by the same margin at Marco Simone.
And with the home side also ahead in the remaining two matches, captain Luke Donald was on target to oversee a clean sweep of the opening session for the first time in the history of the biennial contest.
Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka were two up with five to play on Rickie Fowler and Collin Morikawa, with Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood also two up in the fourth match against the top American duo of Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele.
Rahm holed from 27 feet for birdie on the third and short range on the fifth, before hitting the pin with his tee shot on the par-three seventh to leave Hatton with a tap-in birdie.
The European pair looked set to lose the 10th until Rahm chipped in for an unlikely par and the Masters champion then drove the green on the short 11th and found the putting surface in two on the par-five 12th.
That led to a conceded eagle and the out-of-sorts American pair were put of their misery on the 15th.
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