Less than 10 months ago, Phil Mickelson stood in a golden light as the sea breeze blew off the Atlantic Ocean and thousands of fans, many of whom had walked with him down the 18th fairway, chanted his name as he completed the unlikeliest victory of his career, winning the PGA Championship as a 50-year-old.
It was Phil at his finest, having summoned a performance on Kiawah’s Ocean Course no one saw coming, using all of his guile, guts and gumption to pull off a stunning major-championship victory that added another ray of color to the prism of his exceptional career.
Now, Mickelson is missing the Masters – his favorite event – either by choice, circumstance or suggestion, take your pick. All may be at least partially correct.
The Masters tournament is not in the habit of publicly announcing something such as Mickelson’s move from the list of active competitors to “past champions not competing,” but that shift, which the tournament confirmed Monday, did more than leave a gap between Rory McIlroy and Guido Migliozzi on the competitors’ list.
It was the most searing reminder yet of where Mickelson finds himself these days, sorting through what feels like the wreckage of both his career and his life after his incendiary remarks about both the PGA Tour and the new LIV Golf Investments initiatives.
No official reason was given for why Mickelson won’t tee it up at Augusta in two weeks (don’t expect him to show up for the Tuesday night champions dinner either), but it’s no secret he is in the midst of a storm of his own creation.
CLICK HERE TO READ THIS UNLOCKED STORY AT GGP+... AND USE COUPON CODE GGP48 TO SAVE 20% ON AN ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION