Golf pro Phil Mickelson backtracked on comments that he made suggesting that he planned to make "drastic changes" because of federal and California state tax increases.
In a statement to Fox News late Monday, Mickelson apologized to anyone he may have "upset or insulted" with the comments that his high tax bracket was causing him to consider "drastic changes" in his life.
"Finances and taxes are a personal matter and I should not have made my opinions on them public," Mickelson told Fox News.
Earlier, Mickelson had said he planned to make "drastic changes" because of federal and California state tax increases.
"It's been an interesting off-season," Mickelson said Sunday after the final round of the Humana Challenge. "And I'm going to have to make some drastic changes. I'm not going to jump the gun and do it right away, but I will be making some drastic changes."
The 42-year-old golfer said he would talk in more detail about his plans — possibly moving away from California or even retiring from golf — before his hometown Farmers Insurance Open, the San Diego-area event that starts Thursday at Torrey Pines.
"I'm not sure what exactly, you know, I'm going to do yet," Mickelson said. "I'll probably talk about it more in depth next week. I'm not going to jump the gun, but there are going to be some. There are going to be some drastic changes for me because I happen to be in that zone that has been targeted both federally and by the state and, you know, it doesn't work for me right now. So I'm going to have to make some changes."