The world looked somewhat different when Phil Mickelson last missed The Masters.
Bill Clinton was the US president, Tiger Woods was still in high school, and the two most recent men’s major champions – Jon Rahm and Collin Morikawa – weren’t even born.
You have to go all the way back to 1994 to find the last Masters in which Mickelson’s name didn’t feature. On that occasion, a broken leg sustained while ski-ing relegated him to the sidelines. The circumstances this year are significantly different and, arguably, worse.
The six-time major champion has been conspicuous by his absence from the game since late February, when he issued a groveling apology for incendiary remarks he made about both the PGA Tour and the Saudi Arabian bankrollers of a rival start-up circuit.
Mickelson was widely condemned for accusing the PGA Tour of “obnoxious greed” and for explicit comments about the Saudis.
The backlash prompted him to take an indefinite leave of absence from the game.
There have been rumours that the left-hander’s self-imposed exile has been anything but and that he is, instead, serving a suspension. That may well be true of the PGA Tour (the organisation famously doesn’t comment on disciplinary matters), but, in the case of The Masters, governed by the Augusta National Golf Club, it is not – the club’s chairman Fred Ridley today confirmed that Mickelson is sitting out this year through choice.
That poses as many questions as answers. When does he intend to return? Will he defend the US PGA Championship he won in record-breaking fashion last May when the second men’s major of the year takes place next month? Will he, instead, commit himself to the new Saudi-funded LIV Golf Invitational Series which begins in June?
Time will tell. More immediately, Mickelson’s absence continues to loom large over The Masters. Beyond his wins, he has an exceptional record in the tournament. He has career earnings of over $8 million in the tournament. Only Tiger Woods has earned more.
Despite his recent penchant for controversial behaviour, he also remains a huge favourite of the patrons, as Augusta National likes to call its spectators.
Could Mickelson have contended for a Green Jacket this week? It’s not impossible, but unlikely.
His influence, though, extends far beyond his competitiveness. People who don’t watch golf do so when he’s involved. He is one of the sport’s truly transcendent figures.
For that reason, and many others, he will be missed this week.
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