One of the biggest surprises at the 2022 Masters tournament was the omission of legendary golfer Phil Mickelson, who hadn’t missed the tournament since 1994.
At the time, Mickelson was amid controversy after recently joining LIV Golf and making tasteless comments about the Saudi government’s human rights violations. But it appears that Mickelson will compete at the Masters in 2023.
He discussed the possibility in an interview with Sports Illustrated’s Bob Harig, where he said that he doesn’t expect his suspension from the PGA Tour to impact his availability for the Masters.
“I believe wholeheartedly I’ll be at Augusta,” Mickelson said. “I thought my conversations with (Masters chairman) Fred Ridley (last spring)—which I will keep between us—were extremely classy. I have the utmost respect for him and the leaders of the majors. There’s been to date no threat at all. I’m not saying that couldn’t change. I just don’t see how that could benefit anybody. I believe they are wise enough and great leaders who can see that.”
Many believe that the governing bodies of the four majors could move to ban LIV players from competition from events like the Masters, but Mickelson doesn’t see that happening.
“I really don’t think that’s going to happen. I believe that the leaders of the majors are really brilliant people who love the game of golf,” Mickelson added. “And I believe they understand how not having many of the top players in the world undermines their events. And how that would hurt the game of golf.”
LIV Golf has attracted more and more top golfers in the world to join their controversial tour, with the latest being 2022 Open Championship winner Cameron Smith.
As more top players join LIV, Mickelson’s case for the Masters and other major events allowing LIV Golf players to compete becomes more and more of a possibility in the future.
