Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson are set for an awkward reunion at this week's PGA Championship, with the pair both expected to attend the tournament's past champions dinner on Tuesday.
Similar to the famous Masters tradition, the PGA Championship's past winners get together each year for a tournament dinner hosted by last season's champion. This time around, 2022 winner Justin Thomas will play host after his victory at Southern Hills 12 months ago.
His hosting role is set to be a tougher than those who have come before though, thanks to the ongoing rivalry between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf.
Included on the invitation list are both Mickelson and McIlroy, but it would be no surprise to see the pair sit at opposite ends of the table. Since making his controversial LIV switch last summer, Mickelson has not held back in his criticism of the PGA Tour, likewise McIlroy has returned the favour.
At times their slamming has turned personal too, with the Northern Irishman infamously shouting 'F*** you, Phil' down the cameras of the PGA Tour's Netflix documentary 'Full Swing'. McIlroy has been vocal throughout the saga between the two circuits, but it seems he is ready to take a back seat.
Speaking ahead of this week's tournament, McIlroy was asked to look into his 'crystal ball' to predict where he feels professional golf will be in three years, to which he responded: "I don't have a crystal ball." The asked whether he if is stopping discussing golf's politics he simply added: "Yeah."
This comes after the four-time major champion admitted his work off the course had began to take its toll. Detailing the reasons behind his recent month out of action, he told Golf Digest : "It's not the golf side of things. If you had nothing else going on in your life, you could play every week there is to play and be totally fine.
Do you think Rory McIlroy can win this week's PGA Championship? Let us know in the comments section below.
"But it's just all the other stuff that was going on around the game of golf and being right in the middle of it. It sort of took its toll and, yeah, everything just sort of caught up with me this last month or so." Despite his recent struggles, McIlroy revealed his game is in a good place heading into the second major of the year.
"I think I'm close. I think I've made some good strides even from Quail Hollow a couple of weeks ago. I'm seeing some better things, better start lines, certainly just some better golf shots, he added. "I expect to go out there and if I can execute the way that I feel like I can, then I still believe that I'm one of the best players in the world and I can produce good golf to have a chance of winning this week."
