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Today is going to be a really fun day for golf fans as the WGC Match Play Championship begins in Austin, Texas with 64 of the best golfers in the world competing in a tournament that is so different than what we see on a weekly basis on the PGA Tour.
Then after next week’s stop in San Antonio we step into Masters week, which is the best sports week of the year.
Seriously, golf is going to be so awesome for the next few weeks and I can’t wait to watch a lot of it from my couch.
One person who might also be watching it from his couch (if he watches it all) is a guy who should be playing in the events – Phil Mickelson.
You remember, him, right?
The legendary golfer who won the PGA Championship last year at the age of 51 hasn’t been seen since his selfish and ignorant comments on a Saudi golf league went viral and all but put him on a lengthy time out from professional golf.
A few weeks ago he missed the Players Championship. This week he’s missing the Match Play. And in two weeks he’ll be sitting out the Masters for the first time in 28 years. 28 years!
Missing the Masters is the most surprising of the developments since Phil said what he said. He’s a two-time Masters champion and he absolutely lives for the event and all the traditions that come with it.
It was wild to learn earlier this week that Phil won’t be going to Augusta. While it made sense for him to sit out of the Players, it wasn’t crazy to think he’d show up at the Masters, maybe talk to the media about the situation that he created, and then tee it up on one of the most special golf courses in all of the world.
That’s not going to happen, though. Phil is going to stay in hiding, which has to be tough for him because he loves attention and loves playing golf and loves attention.
All of this, of course, is Phil’s fault. He didn’t need to say what he said or try to challenge the PGA Tour on his own. He could have talked with fellow players and been a little more adult about things instead of brazenly challenging the Tour and throwing his legacy into the trash can in the process.
It’s a bummer that he won’t be at the Masters because Phil is one of the greatest golfers of all time and a true showman. I, like many golf fans, thoroughly enjoyed watching him win the PGA last year. I was glued to every shot and sat there in awe as fans went crazy around the 18th green after his clinching putt found the bottom of the hole. It’s crazy to think that was less than a year ago.
Phil has done this to himself and can only blame himself for the repercussions that have stemmed from his words. That’s life. You have to be held accountable for your words or actions.
He’s missing out on a lot of fun the next few weeks and now I’m starting to wonder how long this absence is going to be. If he misses the PGA in May then I think it will be safe to assume that we won’t see him again this year, which is nuts. I could be wrong about that but time will tell.
It didn’t have to be this way. Phil could have kept his mouth closed and let things play out whichever way they were going to play out.
But he didn’t do that and now he’s just like us – sitting on the couch and watching golf on TV.
Which has to be killing him.
Quick hits: Tennis world reacts to Ash Barty’s surprising retirement… Vanderbilt’s terrible new logo… Sign up for our new NBA newsletter… And more.
– Ash Barty, the No. 1 women’s tennis player in the world, retired last night at the age of 25. It was a surprising move that led to a lot of reactions and support on Twitter.
– Vanderbilt has a new logo and Vandy grad Christian D’Andrea is not a fan of it. At all.
– Our new daily NBA newsletter Layup Lines kicks off this week and it will get you ready every afternoon for the big games coming up that night. Signing up for it is quick and easy to do right here. You’re going to want this in your basketball lives.
– Baseball is back… and so is that dreadful extra-innings ghost-runner rule.
– Speaking of baseball, Tennessee’s Ben Joyce threw a nasty 104 mph fastball in a game-ending strike out. 104!
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