Three months after announcing his hiatus from golf, Phil Mickelson is seemingly set for a return to his PGA duties in May.
The PGA Championship titleholder has been named alongside Tiger Woods as part of the field list to defend his crown at Southern Hills come May 19. The scheduled return comes after 'Lefty' was criticised for comments he made about Saudi Arabia while backing the Kingdom's breakaway golf competition.
Mickelson, 51, and Greg Norman are among the headline names heavily associated with the Super Golf League (SGL), a tournament that could rival the PGA Tour and weaken its field. Despite this, the former was pilloried for comments made to author Alan Shipnuck in the build-up to his upcoming book, 'Phil - The Rip-Roaring (and Unauthorized!) Biography of Golf's Most Colorful Superstar'.
"They’re scary motherf*****s to get involved with," he said of Saudi Arabia. Mickelson acknowledged the atrocities promoted by the regime before identifying the unique chance to upset golf's status quo: "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.”
Soon after those comments came to light, Mickelson released a statement confirming he would take a break and "work on being the man I want to be." That pause hasn't dampened his spirits in attempting to promote the Saudi contest, however, after asking the PGA Tour for permission to play in the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational in early June.
The competition will take place at the Centurion Club in Hertfordshire and is offering £19million in prize money. With so few of the world's elite players currently signed up for the breakaway league, the best in the field stand an even greater chance at claiming a larger portion of that purse.
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It remains unclear as to which tournament's Mickelson will definitely play despite appearing on the start list for the final two majors of the PGA season. "Our client client Phil Mickelson is officially registered to play in the PGA Championship as well as the US Open," read a statement from Steve Loy, co-president of Mickelson's management company, SportFive.
"We have also filed a request on his behalf for a release to play in the first LIV Golf Invitational in London, June 9-11. Phil currently has no concrete plans on when and where he will play. Any actions taken are in no way a reflection of a final decision made, but rather to keep all options open."
As well as earning the ire of many within the golf community, Lefty's comments on Saudi Arabia also saw him lose numerous sponsors and investments, including long-term partners KPMG. Six-time major-winner Mickelson lifted his second PGA Championship in 2021, 16 years after claiming his first.
