Mickelson Signs Up For 3 Events, Including Southern Hills, Without Saying He’ll Play

Phil Mickelson has signed up for the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open, and his manager asked the PGA Tour for permission to play in a Saudi-funded golf tournament outside London without saying whether Mickelson will play any of them.

“Phil currently has no concrete plans on when and where he will play,” Mickelson’s longtime manager, Steve Loy of Sportfive, said in a statement. “Any actions taken are in no way a reflection of a final decision made, but rather to keep all options open.”

Related Story: Woods, Mickelson Among Field List For PGA Championship At Southern Hills

Monday was the deadline for players to ask for a conflicting event release from the PGA Tour to play in the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational on June 9-11 in England.

It also was the deadline to register for the PGA Championship, to be played May 19-22 at Southern Hills. Mickelson is exempt as the defending champion, winning at Kiawah Island last year at age 50 to become the oldest major champion.

That also gave him a five-year exemption to the U.S. Open, which this year will be played outside Boston on June 16-19.

It was the first word from the Mickelson camp since Feb. 22, when Mickelson apologized for explosive remarks in a book excerpt by Alan Shipnuck in which he disparaged the Saudis behind Greg Norman’s attempt at a rival league and said he wanted leverage against the “obnoxious greed” of the PGA Tour.

He has not played since the Saudi International on Feb. 6, even skipping the Masters.

Meanwhile, Norman announced the season-ending team championship for his LIV Golf Invitational series would be at Trump National Doral Miami, the first tournament at the “Blue Monster” since the PGA Tour moved a World Golf Championship to Mexico in 2017.

It would be the second course owned by former President Donald Trump to host one of the LIV Golf events run by Norman. Trump Bedminster in New Jersey is scheduled to hold a tournament the last weekend in July.

Norman’s plan for a rival league suffered a big setback in February when Mickelson, viewed as a chief recruiter for Norman, was quoted by Shipnuck as saying the Saudis were “scary mother(expletives) to get involved with,” and that he was working with Norman to get leverage for changes he wanted on the PGA Tour.

“We know they killed (Washington Post reporter Jamal) Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights. 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 told Shipnuck, whose unauthorized biography on Mickelson is to be released next month.

Mickelson also said he recruited three other top players and they paid attorneys to write the operating agreement for the proposed league.

Within days, the biggest names in golf — some of whom had been contemplating taking the guaranteed Saudi riches — publicly stated support for the PGA Tour.