Phil Mickelson is not going to defend his title in subsequent week’s US PGA Championship at Southern Hills, match organisers have introduced.
Mickelson has been taking a break from golf because the fallout 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 25 April and in addition requested a launch from the PGA Tour to play the primary LIV Golf Invitational Sequence occasion from 11th of September June, a request that was denied earlier this week.
His agent stated on the time that Mickelson was merely conserving 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a submit on Twitter on Friday night, the PGA of America wrote: “We’ve simply been knowledgeable that Phil Mickelson has withdrawn from the PGA Championship.
“Phil is the defending champion and presently eligible to be a PGA Life Member and we might have welcomed him to take part. We want Phil and Amy [his wife] the easiest and stay up for his return to golf.”
Mickelson’s victory at Kiawah Island final 12 months made him the oldest ever winner of a males’s main championship, his two-shot win over Brooks Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen coming solely 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 have been made public.
In an interview with the creator of a forthcoming biography, Mickelson admitted he was nicely conscious of Saudi Arabia’s “horrible report on human rights”, together with the homicide of the Washington Submit journalist Jamal Khashoggi, however was utilizing the specter of a breakaway to “reshape” how the Tour operates.
Norman stated the total league of 14 occasions had been able to launch in mid-February till Mickelson’s feedback value him a number of sponsors and resulted in some gamers backing out.
LIV Golf, of which the two-time Open champion Norman is the CEO, has as an alternative arrange eight 48-man occasions in 2022, with the primary to be staged at Centurion Membership in Hertfordshire from 11th of September June. The plan is to stage 10 occasions in 2023 and the total 14 from 2024, and Norman insists he’s wanting “a long time” into the long run.
Mickelson apologised for his reckless feedback and stated: “I’ve made numerous errors in my life and plenty 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.
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“I’ve skilled many profitable and rewarding moments that I’ll all the time 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 like most and work on being the person I wish to be.”
