Phil Mickelson hits a shot on the fifth hole during the first round of The Agricultural Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course on January 26, 2022 in La Jolla, California.
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Phil Mickelson hits a shot on the fifth hole during the first round of The Agricultural Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course on January 26, 2022 in La Jolla, California.
Sam Greenwood / Getty Images
Pro golfer Phil Mickelson won’t compete in this year’s famous Masters Tournament, the first time he hasn’t swung in the competition since 1994.
News of the surprising absence came a month after Mickelson public apology As for the controversial comments, he made about Saudi Arabia and a new Saudi-backed golf tournament and stated that he needed “a little more time.”
The Masters lists Mickelson, 51, as a “non-competitive past champion” on its website. I also miss Player Championships earlier this month.
In February, golf writer Alan Shipnuck published an excerpt from his upcoming biography of Mickelson, in which the legendary golfer spoke candidly about the Saudi-backed Super Golf League, an organization Up-and-coming organizations are trying to woo some of the sport’s top talent.
Mickelson said in the interview posted on Fire Pit Collective golf website.
“We know they killed [Washington Post reporter and U.S. resident Jamal] Khashoggi and have a terrible record on human rights. They executed the people there for being gay. He continued.
Mickelson also said PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan “wouldn’t do what’s right” without leverage, which Mickelson said Saudi financing provided. “I’m not sure I even want to [the SGL] to be successful,” he added, “but just the idea of it is to allow us to get things done with [PGA] Tour.”
After the interview went public in February, Mickelson said his comments were “reckless” and that he was “deeply sorry for my choice of words” while noting that “the subject golf is in dire need of change.”
Among Mickelson’s criticisms were PGA refuses to share revenue from the association’s broadcasting rights and digital assets with the players on tour.
Speaking to the press earlier this month, Monahan declined to comment on any disciplinary issues regarding Mickelson and said he would welcome a conversation with Mickelson about his return to the PGA Tour.
“Listen, he’s a player who’s won 45 times on the PGA Tour. He’s had a Hall of Fame career. He’s won here at the Players Championship,” said Monahan, According to Golf Digest. “He’s inspired so many people and helped develop this tour, his tour. So it’s as hard as reading some of the said, there’s going to be a conversation at the end when he does. ready to have it and I will be ready to have it.”
