Phil Mickelson will not play in The Masters

After he came under fire for his comments in support of the proposed Saudi Arabia-backed competitive pro golf tour, three-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson will not play at Augusta National next month.

Mickelson, the defending PGA Championship winner, did not play in The Players Championship, though he was eligible.

In February, Mickelson came under fire when he was quoted as saying to golf writer Alan Shipnuck that the Saudi group behind a proposed new league were “scary mother (expletive)s to get involved with.

“We know they killed (Washington Post columnist Jamal) Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights. They execute people over there for being gay,” Mickelson told Shipnuck, whose biography on Mickelson is due in May. “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 offered an awkward statement in which he conceded his comments were “reckless” but not meant to be shared.

Several of Mickelson’s corporate sponsors severed or paused their relationships with the six-time major champion. Among them, KPMG, Amstel Light, and Workday.

Mickelson first played in the Masters as an amateur in 1991 and has played in every Masters tournament since 1995, including winning in 2004, 2006, and 2010. He has finished in the top 10 a dozen other times at Augusta National. His win at the 2021 PGA Championship at the age of 50 made him the oldest winner of a major ever. Five months later, he won the inaugural Constellation Furyk & Friends at Timuquana Country Club in Jacksonville on the PGA Tour Champions.