Phil Mickelson Withdraws From 2022 PGA Championship Field, Will Not Defend Major Title
Phil Mickelson, who hasn't played in a PGA Tour event since January, will not be in the field at the 2022 PGA Championship May 19-22 at the Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The defending PGA Championship winner withdrew from the field Friday, the Tour announced in a Twitter post.
"We have just been informed that Phil Mickelson has withdrawn from the PGA Championship," the statement said. "Phil is the defending champion and currently eligible to be a PGA Life Member and we would have welcomed him to participate. We wish Phil and Amy the very best and look forward to his return to golf."
Mickelson, 51, became golf's oldest Major winner at last year's PGA Championship at the Ocean Course in Kiawah Island, South Carolina. Mickelson was 50 at the time of the victory, outlasting Brooks Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen to win the tournament.
Mickelson last played and missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open Jan. 26-29 at Torrey Pines South Course in La Jolla, California. Shortly thereafter, comments from a November 2021 interview with author Alan Shipnuck were released, in which Mickelson said that Saudi Arabians were “scary motherf—ers” and said he was only willing to get involved with the upstart LIV Golf league to gain leverage with the PGA Tour.
“… They killed Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights,” Mickelson said. “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.”
Mickelson's comments resulted in him losing his chief sponsors, KPMG, Amstel Light and Workday. The six-time Major winner didn't play in the 2022 Masters Tournament in April for the first time since 1994, despite having a lifetime invitation back as a three-time winner of the event.
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