Phil Mickelson won’t defend his title in subsequent week’s US PGA Championship at Southern Hills, event organisers have introduced.
Mickelson has been taking a break from golf for the reason that fall-out from his explosive feedback concerning the PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed breakaway spearheaded by Greg Norman.
The six-time main winner formally registered for the US PGA and subsequent month’s US Open on April 25 and likewise requested a launch from the PGA Tour to play the primary LIV Golf Invitational Sequence occasion from June 9/11, a request which was denied earlier this week.
His agent mentioned on the time that Mickelson was merely protecting his choices open and didn’t have “concrete plans” about his return to motion.
In a submit on Twitter on Friday night, the PGA of America wrote: “We now have simply been knowledgeable that Phil Mickelson has withdrawn from the PGA Championship.
“Phil is the defending champion and at present eligible to be a PGA Life Member and we’d have welcomed him to take part. We want Phil and Amy (his spouse) the perfect and look ahead to his return to golf.”
Mickelson’s victory at Kiawah Island final yr made him the oldest ever winner of a males’s main championship, his two-shot win over Brooks Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen coming only a month earlier than his 51st birthday.
The left-hander has not performed since February’s Saudi Worldwide, shortly after which his feedback concerning the PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed occasions had been made public.
In an interview with the creator of a forthcoming biography, Mickelson admitted he was properly conscious of Saudi Arabia’s “horrible report on human rights”, together with the homicide of Washington Submit reporter Jamal Khashoggi, however was utilizing the specter of a breakaway to “reshape” how the Tour operates.
Norman mentioned the complete league of 14 occasions had been able to launch in mid-February till Mickelson’s feedback price him a number of sponsors and resulted in some gamers backing out.
LIV Golf, of which two-time Open champion Norman is the CEO, have as a substitute arrange eight 48-man occasions in 2022, every with a prize fund of £20.2million, with the primary to be staged at Centurion Membership in Hertfordshire from June 9/11.
Greg Norman is spearheading the LIV Golf Invitational Sequence (Nick Potts/PA)
(PA Archive)
The plan is to stage 10 occasions in 2023 and the complete 14 from 2024, with Norman insisting he’s wanting “a long time” into the longer term.
Mickelson apologised for his reckless feedback and mentioned: “I’ve made lots of errors in my life and lots of have been shared with the general public. My intent was by no means to harm anybody and I’m so sorry to the folks I’ve negatively impacted.
“I’ve skilled many profitable and rewarding moments that I’ll at all times cherish, however I’ve typically failed myself and others too. The previous 10 years I’ve felt the stress and stress slowly affecting me at a deeper stage.
“I do know I’ve not been my greatest and desperately want a while away to prioritise those I really like most and work on being the person I wish to be.”
Kaynak: briturkish.com
