Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson are among 20 PGA Tour members playing in the Saudi International this week for rumoured exorbitant appearance money in an event backed by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund,.

The tournament is now part of the Asian Tour, which received a $US300 million ($A422 million) influx from Australian legend Greg Norman's new LIV Golf Investments, which is funded primarily by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.

Mickelson, a 45-time winner on the PGA Tour, and DeChambeau have been the two most prominent players linked to talk of a "super league."

In a news conference before the tournament, Mickelson said the competition was giving players leverage, and that the threat of a rival league had led the PGA Tour to create a $US40 million ($A56 million) Player Impact Program and increases in prize money and FedExCup bonus money.

RIGHT: Bryson DeChambeau has reportedly been offered nearly 200 million Aussie dollars to join the propsed Super Golf League. PHOTO:  Luke Walker/WME IMG/WME IMG via Getty Images.

He later told the U.S. based Golf Digest the players not owning their media rights is what bothers him.

"If the Tour wanted to end any threat, they could just hand back the media rights to the players," Mickelson told the publication.

"But they would rather throw $US25 million ($A35 million) here and $US40 million ($A56 million) there than give back the roughly $US20 billion ($A28 billion) in digital assets they control. Or give up access to the $US50 million-plus ($A70 million) they make every year on their own media channel."

"The media rights are but a small fraction of everything else," Mickelson said. "And it is the tour's obnoxious greed that has really opened the door for opportunities elsewhere."

Mickelson was irritated in 2018 when he staged a winner-take-all exhibition match with Tiger Woods in Las Vegas.

That was the first of five matches, and Mickelson said he has had to pay $US1 million ($A1.4 million) to the Tour for each one.

"For my own media rights," Mickelson said. "That type of greed is, to me, beyond obnoxious."

Norman this week announced two of the 10 new events on the Asian Tour in Thailand and England, the latter to be held a week before the U.S. Open. He's not talked specifically about a super league, nor has he announced any players who are willing to join.

The Daily Mail, without citing sources or terms, reported DeChambeau was offered $US135 million ($A190 million) to join such a league.

"I'm not sure how this is going to play out," said Mickelson, the reigning U.S. PGA champion who turns 52 in June.

"My ultimate loyalty is to the game of golf and what it has given me.

"I know I will be criticised. That's not my concern. All that would do is dumb down one of the most intricate issues in sports."