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This week should have been a celebration of Phil Mickelson. The 51-year-old lefty should have floated into to the PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa with everyone singing the praises of the man who stunned the world last year by becoming the oldest golfer in history to win a major championship.
But there will be no celebration for Mickelson this week. He won’t be strolling into town with the Wanamaker Trophy under his arm. He won’t be sharing any silly videos on social media about the high bombs he’s going to hit or the title he’s going to defend. And he won’t be teeing it up when play begins on Thursday.
Instead, Mickelson will remain where he’s been since his explosive comments about the PGA Tour and the Saudi golf league shook up the golf world – in hiding.
This is easily the most embarrassing week of Mickelson’s legendary career and once again he has nobody to blame for it but himself. While Tiger Woods and the rest of the best golfers in the world will be battling it out this week, Mickelson, who, again, is THE DEFENDING CHAMP, will be nowhere near the spotlight in Oklahoma, which has to be killing him.
How Mickelson handled things leading up to this week have been the baddest of looks. He recently registered to play in the PGA Championship but last Friday we learned through a statement by the PGA that Mickelson had withdrawn and will not be playing.
Mickelson should have had both the courage and respect to make a statement on his own about how and why he wouldn’t be playing. That’s how an adult would handle things, at least.
Instead, he left it up to the PGA to throw some words together and post it on social media, which was just just another sad cop out by a legend who continues to treat his legacy like it’s a bag of empty fast food wrappers on the side of a highway.
Right now we don’t know a lot of things about Phil Mickelson. We don’t know if he’s suspended by the PGA Tour. We don’t know if he’s done playing on the PGA Tour. We don’t know where he’s been for the past few months. And we don’t know when we’re going to see him next.
That’s all absolutely wild when you think back about that incredible Sunday last year at the PGA Championship when Phil held off the field down the back nine at Kiawah to win his sixth career major. We’ll never forget that celebratory scene on the 18th green when he finished off the win with a tap-in par that had a sea of fans going absolutely nuts. Those roars will never be forgotten. Those roars were special. Those roars meant something.
There will be no roars this week for Mickelson, though. The guy who had everyone in his corner last year will remain in hiding this week. You’d have to think the man who proudly lifted the Wanamaker into the air on the shores of South Carolina last year won’t even watch a second of the tournament this year.
That’s all a bit sad when you think about.
But it’s also something even more than that – incredibly embarrassing.
Quick hits: Luka Doncic smiling at Devin Booker becomes a meme… Albert Pujols pitches!… Tom Brady’s hilarious bike ride through NYC… And more.
– The Mavs blew out the Suns in Game 7 in Phoenix last night and Luka Doncic smiling at Devin Booker became a hilarious meme.
– The great Albert Pujols made his pitching debut last night and got the game’s final out on a beautiful 47 mph toss.
– Tom Brady took a bike ride through New York City and NFL fans couldn’t help but love it.
– The Oklahoma Sooners signed a QB named General Booty and the internet instantly fell in love with his name.
– You need to see these 16 photos of last night’s incredible lunar eclipse that was known as the as the super flower blood moon.
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