Brooks Koepka has questioned his former Ryder Cup team-mate Phil Mickelson’s use of the words “obnoxious greed” to describe the PGA Tour.
Mickelson, 51, is competing in this week’s Saudi International, where lucrative appearance fees are paid.
In explaining his involvement, he said the PGA Tour’s “obnoxious greed” had “opened the door” for opportunities.
Responding to the story on Instagram, Koepka wrote: “Don’t know if I’d be using the word greedy if I were Phil.”
Four-time major winner Koepka followed his words with five ‘thinking face’ emojis.
His fellow American Mickelson, who has earned about £70m in prize money on the PGA Tour, has been vocal about playing in Saudi Arabia, which it is suggested is using large sporting events to distract from its human rights record.
In recent years sports including football, Formula One and boxing have staged landmark events in the country and now a Saudi Arabian-backed Super League of golf has been proposed.
‘£100m offer is ‘wrong’ – DeChambeau
Some of Mickelson’s frustration with the PGA Tour is focused on its control of lucrative media rights and, speaking to Golf Digest, he added: “If the tour wanted to end the Saudi threat, or from anywhere else, they would just hand the rights back to the players.”
Mickelson, a six-time major winner, believes most of the world’s top 100 players have been approached about signing to play in the super league.
Englishman Ian Poulter has reportedly been offered £22m to sign up, while BBC Sport understands another European Tour player – who is not taking part in this week’s Saudi event – has had £7m proposed.
World number nine Bryson DeChambeau – who withdrew after one round of this week’s event because of injury – is the latest big name rumoured to have been approached over signing up to the Saudi-backed league.
But on Thursday the 28-year-old replied to British magazine Golf Monthly’s tweet suggesting he had been he had been offered $135m (£100m) to by saying: “wrong”.
The super league is expected to be the next step by the Saudi Arabian venture, which has ploughed £300m in to the Asian Tour to create a 10-tournament International Series fronted by former world number one Greg Norman’s Liv Golf Investments.
The International Series, which plans to run for the next decade, includes an event at the Centurion Club in Hertfordshire this June and is being funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which was also used to buy Premier League Newcastle United last year.
