Reigning champion Phil Mickelson will not compete in the PGA Championship next week. The 51-year-old golfer has been off course for more than three months after making controversial claims in a new Saudi-funded round earlier this year.
“We have learned that Phil Mickelson has retired from the PGA Championship,” the organizers of the second major tournament of the year said on Twitter on Friday. “Phil is the reigning champion and should have participated.”
Mickelson became the oldest major winner in history when he won the PGA Championship for the second time in his career last year. Last month, the American skipped the Augusta Masters, the three-time winning major, for the first time since 1994.
At the end of January ‘Lefty’ played a tournament for the last time. He took a break after being criticized for an interview in February in which he said he was considering starting a new tour funded by the controversial Saudi Arabian.
“Terrible bastards,” Mickelson told Saudi Arabian reporter Alan Shipnuck. “He has a terrible human rights record, but I see this new round as a unique opportunity to reshape the coveted PGA Tour.”
Mickelson later apologized for his comments.
Source: NU
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