For the second time in two months, a major men’s golf championship is overshadowed by who won’t play in the event.
A big part of the story at the Masters in April was Phil Mickelson not playing in the PGA Tour’s first major of the year. Mickelson was still in the middle of time out of the game amid backlash from his comments about the LIV tour based in Saudi Arabia and his support for that tour despite the fact that the sponsors were “scary” and murdered journalists, in the words of Mickelson himself.
It wasn’t a comfortable look for the Masters, which even had to sidestep the idea that Mickelson had been asked not to show up at Augusta National.
Now it’s the turn of the PGA Championship. Mickelson isn’t just a big name on the PGA, he’s the defending champion. His win at Kiawah Island last May, a month shy of his 51st birthday, was the feel-good win of the year that should have sent Lefty into the twilight of his career and into the broadcast booth of any network offering the most money. Instead, Mickelson will not play in the championship this week.
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Mickelson may not be ready to face his fellow players and the media for his support of LIV. Perhaps the reprehensible comments by Greg Norman, the other face of LIV, about the murder of a journalist being “a mistake” made Mickelson realize that this was not the right time to resurface. Maybe he doesn’t want to be in the championship the week a style book on his career is scheduled to come out. Perhaps the social media rumors are correct and Mickelson’s game just isn’t ready to be put on display in a major championship.
whatever the reason, Mickelson will not defend his PGA title. That’s happened before, with Tiger Woods and Ben Hogan failing defensively, both with injuries. Not even Walter Hagen defended his 1921 PGA title because he could make more money playing exhibitions than on the PGA.
But Mickelson’s decision is sad for golf fans, because he is one of the best to play the game, tied with Hagen for eighth all-time with 45 PGA Tour wins and six majors, and also because he There is little time left to play the regular tour. events because he is only a month away from his 52nd birthday.
From folk hero to absentee defender
If Mickelson didn’t want to play on the PGA because he didn’t want to face the media and his fellow players, then it’s a stunning fall from grace for the sensational and sentimental 2021 win. And it robs the PGA of America of what it could to have been one of the great celebrations of his championship with a look back at Mickelson’s victory last year.
With Mickelson out of the PGA, there are more questions. When he first entered the PGA this year, his representative said he would also enter the LIV event in London and the US Open the following week in June, but no decision had been made on where Mickelson would play. The London event would only add to the LIV controversy. The US Open would probably be a louder crowd, but it could also be a step towards reconciliation.
And you can expect more discussion of LIV during the PGA, including other players like Sergio Garcia who were asked about his support for LIV and the PGA Tour’s refusal to grant waivers to play in the tournament against the RBC Canadian Open.
Oh yeah, and Tiger Woods is back playing for a second major in two months. It could be a whole week in the Southern Hills of Oklahoma. The only thing we know for sure is that Phil Mickelson won’t win this major for the second year in a row.
Larry Bohannan is the golf writer for The Desert Sun. He can be reached at [email protected] or (760) 778-4633. Follow him on Facebook or on Twitter at @larry_bohannan. Support local journalism. Subscribe to The Sun of the Desert.
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