By this time, the dust was supposed to have settled on the PGA Tour LIV Golf battle. The two sides agreed to bury the hatchet. Neither PIF nor the PGA Tour would have wanted it to be a trending narrative during the Masters. Yet, that’s exactly how this is going and it just got worse, embroiling Phil Mickelson in the mix.
Augusta National announced the schedule for pre-tournament interviews.
Lefty, a former champion, was noticeably absent from the list. This decision did not sit well with fans, who expressed their disappointment. Augusta National has announced the press conference schedule for the Masters tournament.
The schedule includes 14 players over three days. Five players, including former Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama, will speak on Monday. On Tuesday, 10 players, including Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka, and defending champion Jon Rahm, will have press conferences.
Fred Ridley will be the only golfer speaking on Wednesday. Fans were not happy about Woods only getting a 90-minute window.
It is possible that there may be a break after Woods, similar to Rahm’s media address. The full schedule is provided below.
Several well-known individuals are absent from the roster, such as past champions and Mickelson’s LIV Golf partners like Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia, among others.
Mickelson not being included has generated the most interest, considering he was the co-runner-up in the previous year’s event.
Notably, last year, too, Phil Mickelson was not included in the pre-tournament press conference. The three-time Masters champion, a self-admitted divisive figure, hasn’t commented on the matter. Rather, the 45-time PGA Tour winner is more focused on the Masters prep at Trump Doral. His fans, however, didn’t tolerate the cold shoulder given to one of the most successful players in the Masters’ history.
Phil Mickelson fans take matters into their own hands
In addition to his runner-up finish last year, Mickelson has 15 top-10s from his 30 appearances. He finished outside the top-25 only on nine occasions. Notably, Mickelson is also the most successful lefty at Augusta. Quite naturally, fans didn’t take the snub very kindly. A fan termed it an “absolute disgrace” when Dan Rapaport shared the schedule on his X (formerly Twitter) handle.
An absolute disgrace that Phil isn’t on the schedule.
Two first-timers, Ludvig Aberg and Wyndham Clark, will sit for the press conference on Tuesday. The rationale behind offering the Swede a spot ahead of Mickelson was lost on many. A fan venting their frustration pointed out, “Oh yeah cause I totally wanna hear ludvig instead of the greatest left-handed golfer to ever walk to earth who finished 2nd last year nbd.”
Now, many LIV golfers not receiving a major spot is already a thorny issue, especially, after Talor Gooch’s controversial asterisk remark. The fact that, with Jon Rahm’s inclusion, LIV Golf has two of the last year’s four major champions, has emboldened many. At the same time, they are also disappointed that Majors haven’t created a direct pathway for other ‘deserving’ LIV Golfers to enter the field.
So, many read the decision as politically motivated. “So PhilMickelson finished T2 at last years Masters and is a multi time winner of this event…but isn’t included in this schedule? Time for the Majors to put politics aside and give the fans what they want!”, one user pointed out. Mickelson being in the midst of controversy at the Masters isn’t new.
Mickelson was excluded from the pre-tournament press conference schedule last year.
However, it was later revealed that he had been given the chance to address the media at Augusta National, but he turned down the invitation, as reported by Rich Lerner of the Golf Channel.
In 2022, Mickelson opted out of the tournament as he took a break from the game following his apology for contentious remarks regarding the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia.
A fan was angry at his non-attendance at the press conference, stating, “This is ridiculous without Phil.” No explanations were provided for the players’ absence. Several prominent figures from the Tour, such as Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, and Will Zalatoris, were also absent from the presser.
Some people doubted if Woods was in control. It seems that the 15-time Major champion influenced Phil Mickelson’s decision to not attend the Open Championship dinner a few years ago. Referring to this incident, some made indirect comments about Woods.
“Will Phil and the Liv players be relegated to the children’s table at the champions dinner? Or will Tiger take steps to exclude Phil, like he did with the R&A at St Andrew’s for the 150th anniversary celebration?”
The rejection of Phil Mickelson has increased the excitement of the Masters, which was already intense.
If the six-time Major winner manages to surprise everyone again like last year, the cheers from LIV Golf fans will become even more boisterous.
Mickelson has only achieved one top-10 finish at LIV Golf this year.
Despite his poor performance at the breakaway side last year, he still managed to finish in second place at Augusta.