Phil Mickelson

Having withdrawn from the US PGA Championship, the reigning champion seems painfully aware of his pariah status.

Woods has won at Southern Hills – the US PGA of 2007 – and warm temperatures will assist him, but he surely remains far too lightly raced to compete over 72 holes. The softer, more human Woods of this day and age may well call for clemency. In Tulsa, the reaction of Woods towards his old adversary will be especially interesting. Mickelson has neither the gumption nor the legal mechanism to remove himself entirely from Greg Norman’s equation. Friday evening’s announcement that Mickelson will not defend the US PGA Championship at Southern Hills from Thursday came as a surprise to many. Woods, who has created much of his legacy via the PGA Tour, sits in firm endorsement of the existing ecosystem.

The six-time Major winner officially registered for the USPGA and next month's US Open on April 25th and also requested a release from the PGA Tour to play the ...

The past 10 years I have felt the pressure and stress slowly affecting me at a deeper level. “Phil is the defending champion and currently eligible to be a PGA Life Member and we would have welcomed him to participate. My intent was never to hurt anyone and I’m so sorry to the people I have negatively impacted.

Reigning PGA Championship holder Phil Mickelson has withdrawn from the tournament next week, as fears grow surrounding the Saudi-backed...

“We have just been informed that Phil Mickelson has withdrawn from the PGA Championship,” it read. Phil Mickelson has withdrawn from next week’s PGA Championship. “We have just been informed that Phil Mickelson has withdrawn from the PGA Championship..”

Phil Mickelson will not defend his title at the PGA Championship this year following his comments about Saudi Arabia and his links to the Saudi-funded rival ...

"We have just been informed that Phil Mickelson has withdrawn from the PGA Championship," a PGA statement said. As such, Tour members are not authorized to participate in the Saudi Golf League’s London event under our regulations," the memo stated. Mickelson becomes just the third PGA champion not to defend his title in the last 75 years.

Paige Spiranac reacted to the latest rumor about why Phil Mickelson isn't playing the PGA Championship.

"The San Diego rumor mill has Phil playing bad golf at local courses. "We have just been informed that Phil Mickelson has withdrawn from the PGA Championship," the statement read. We wish Phil and Amy the very best and look forward to his return to golf."

Defending champion Phil Mickelson will not play at this year's PGA Championship and this sparked outrage among golf fans on social media.

"Phil is the defending champion and currently eligible to be a PGA Life Member and we would have welcomed him to participate. "Love Phil he needs to remember where his stuff came from! Phil Mickelson will not be playing at the PGA Championship next week.

Mickelson won the title at age 50 last year but is not in the field of the tournament as defending champion.

And it robs the PGA of America of what could have been one of the great celebrations of its championship with a look back at Mickelson’s victory last year. Oh yeah, and Tiger Woods is back playing for a second major in two months. When he first entered the PGA this year, his representative said he also was entering the LIV event in London and the U.S. Open the following week in June, but that no decision had been made on where Mickelson would actually play. A large part of the story at the Masters in April was Phil Mickelson didn’t play in the PGA Tour's first major of the year. Mickelson isn’t just a big name at the PGA, he is the defending champion. Instead, Mickelson won’t play in the championship this week.

What do we think is behind Phil not playing? Phil decided not to? He was encouraged by the PGA of America not to? That text came to me this morning.

This is a forgiving nation and there’s a million examples of people finding their way back to being on top again, and I fully expect he will one day.” You’d have to believe that the media presence would be lesser at the first LIV Invitational Series event, set for June 9-11 at the Centurion Club in London — it’s an overseas trip for the American contingent, and the TV presence apparently will be an in-house, YouTube production. Then again, Monahan told the Associated Press recently that players who jump ship in favor of the Saudi tour would lose their Tour membership. Possibly, and that would center around the thought that his break hasn’t been kind to his game. It’s one of the reasons he’s in this mess to begin with, and it makes his choice to withdraw a shock. That being said, all we have are the words of the folks in charge of making those kinds of calls, and it sounds like he wasn’t. Sounds like. Remember that Mickelson turns 52 in a month. “I think he, you know, he is — you said it well, I think he’s trying to figure out when the right time for him is. Then again, do you really believe that Mickelson would not return at the site of perhaps his greatest accomplishment, just so the spotlight could be spread rightfully? Yes, a press conference would have been held early, but the questions would have been asked throughout. Mickelson has not spoken or appeared in public since he apologized in February following comments on the LIV Golf Invitational series, a new, Saudi Arabia-funded golf league. The non-shocker contingent will tell you that a Mickelson appearance would have been a carnival, and that it makes sense that he chose to sit out so as not to detract from the event.