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- Phil Mickelson will not be defending his PGA Championship title at Southern Hills next week.
- Mickelson has not played a tournament since February.
- Be sure to check out more golf stories at BroBible here.
It seemed like there was a very real chance Phil Mickelson would make his return to golf at next week’s PGA Championship, but the six-time major winner officially withdrew on Friday.
The PGA Championship released the field for the tournament earlier in the week, and Mickelson’s name was on the list of players set to tee it up at Southern Hills, but that won’t be the case.
The PGA of America released a statement about Mickelson withdrawing stating that “we would have welcomed him to participate.”
— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 13, 2022
Mickelson has gone dark following the controversial comments he made about both the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series and the PGA Tour in February. He referred to the Saudis involved in the rival golf circuit as “scary motherf–kers” and referred to the PGA Tour as a “dictatorship,” among many other things.
Mickelson apologized for his comments a few days later while also announcing he’d be taking a break away from the game. Obviously, that break has been extended through PGA Championship week.
The 51-year-old was registered for the PGA Championship, but he’s also registered for this year’s U.S. Open as well as the inaugural LIV Golf event taking place in June.
Lefty became the oldest player to win a major last year when he hoisted the Wanamaker Trophy at Kiawah Island.
Golf World Reacts To Phil Mickelson Not Playing In The 2022 PGA Championship
It’s bad news that Phil Mickelson isn’t playing in the PGA Championship. No matter what else you think about the PGA Tour, LIV, Phil or anything else, it’s a bummer that he won’t be there to defend the defining win of his late career. Nobody wins here.
— Dylan Dethier (@dylan_dethier) May 13, 2022
Man. Was thinking the best thing Phil could do is play—get out there, smile, thumbs up, get up and down from absolutely nowhere.
This is unfortunate on a few different levels. Crazy, crazy times in the golf world. https://t.co/BsTkSnPsoy
— Dan Rapaport (@Daniel_Rapaport) May 13, 2022
Wow!! Absolutely amazing this is where Phil is at with his career. https://t.co/xkBCIoQoQ7
— Travis Fulton (@travisfulton) May 13, 2022
Imagine a year ago today me telling you that Phil would win the PGA next week but that you’d be more surprised by what he did at the same tournament the following year.
— Kyle Porter (@KylePorterCBS) May 13, 2022
Phil returning to golf (and the media) in the friendly confines of the first LIV event instead of the circus that would be the PGA presser does make sense.
But holy shit is that sad.
— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) May 13, 2022