Phil Mickelson registers for PGA Championship and US Open, asks for PGA Tour exemption for LIV Golf

Six-time major champion Phil Mickelson has registered to compete in the 2022 PGA Championship and the 2022 US Open, agent Steve Loy announced Monday. However, while Mickelson will register and qualify for the next two majors on the calendar, he has yet to commit to playing both events and is simply keeping his options open.

“Phil currently has no concrete plans for when and where he will play,” Loy said in a statement.

Perhaps more interestingly, Mickelson has also filed a PGA Tour petition to waive the LIV Golf Invitational, which will be held June 9-11 in London. The Tour’s deadline for an exemption request is April 25. Mickelson is one of 15 players in the world’s top 100 that have signed up for the event, by Bob Harig of Sports Illustrated,

“This requirement follows an April 25 deadline set by the PGA Tour to compete in a conflict travel event,” Loy said.

Of course, the June 9-11 event in London is part of the reason Mickelson hasn’t appeared on the PGA Tour since the Open Farmers’ Insurance in January and why this release is necessary to begin. After it was revealed that Mickelson had referred to sponsors of the Saudi-backed Series LIV Golf Invitational as “the scary mother *****”, as well as the fact that he helped write operating agreement for the tournament while still on the PGA Tour membership, Lefty lost most of his sponsors, give an apology and hasn’t been heard from since.

Mickelson skipped the Masters 2022 earlier this month – he missed that tournament for the first time since 1994 – and there has been much speculation about whether he will also skip the PGA Championship next month in the Southern Hills. , where he will be the defending champion.

Either way, it will be a historic moment. Mickelson will either be the oldest defending champion in major championship history or he will hold the rare distinction of missing out on a major championship as defending champion despite no obvious injuries and no injuries. there’s no obvious reason other than that he’s not ready to appear in public.

This can also be a crossroads for many golf tournaments. The PGA Tour has announced it will ban anyone from running the PGA Tour for the LIV Golf Invitational Series, a position the PGA Tour commissioner recently said he believes will be upheld should shots on the course occur.

“Our PGA Tour rules and regulations are written by the players, for the players,” said Tour commissioner Jay Monahan. “They’ve been around for more than 50 years. I’m confident in our rules and regulations, our ability to govern them, and that’s my position on the matter. … We’re confident in our position. and we’ll continue to move forward as the PGA Tour and focus on the things we control.”

Mickelson is currently ranked 54th in the world, and while he’s unlikely to be the highest-ranked player to play in the series, he will certainly be the biggest name. He could also play a major role in the future of the PGA Tour and LIV Golf by helping push things into high-profile litigation by trying to play multiple tours at once.

Or, he may have passed the point of personal no-return. Although he has since apologized for what he said and how he said it, he also never vowed to return to the PGA Tour nor mentioned its place in life. as well as his career. If and when he returns to golf professionally, is there a scenario in which he could try playing the major championships – tournaments not facilitated by the PGA Tour – and then the LIV Golf Invitational Series. his “regular” tour of reality.

LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman said recently that Mickelson is welcome back with open arms for the tour he’s in charge of running.

“The real fans are behind Phil,” Norman told Golf.com. “And he made a mistake, no doubt. And I’ll give Phil time. I haven’t spoken to him since. I respect his wish to leave and have opportunity to regroup But me I have had many conversations with Phil before about his passion for LIV Golf and the opportunities he may have.… I feel sad for Phil. . I feel for Phil. But like I said, he’s always had an open door for the game of golf as far as I’m concerned.”