Phil Mickelson hasn't played competitively in over three months and that won't change with the PGA Championship coming up next week.
The reigning champion of the tournament at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma is withdrawing.
The PGA of America released this statement with the news. Via ESPN:
“We have just been informed that Phil Mickelson has withdrawn from the PGA Championship,” the statement said. “Phil is the defending champion and currently eligible to be a PGA Life Member and we would have welcomed him to participate. We wish Phil and [wife] Amy the very best and look forward to his return to golf.”
Mickelson skipped the Masters last month, despite winning them a total of three times in his prestigious PGA career. He's currently the oldest player on the tour at 50-years-old, winning his last tournament last year in South Carolina. He last played at the Farmers Insurance Open in January at Torrey Pines.
It's believed Mickelson is taking time away from the PGA due to his comments about the tour and their Saudi Arabian financiers. He claimed the PGA was being greedy, but Mickelson was willing to look past that in order to gain “leverage” on the tour.
“They're scary motherf—ers to get involved with,” Mickelson told Alan Shipnuck during a conversation in November. “They killed [Washington Post reporter and U.S. resident Jamal] Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights. They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates.”
Phil Mickelson lost numerous sponsorships after these comments, with KPMG, Workday, and Amstel Light all cutting ties with him.
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