Phil Mickelson’s name wasn’t on the initial list of players for this week’s LIV Golf Invitational Series opener in London, but did you really think Lefty would miss out?
On Monday, hours after announcing its plans to stream the inaugural event at Centurion Club outside London, June 9-11, it was also announced that Mickelson would be ending his self-imposed hiatus and teeing it up alongside Dustin Johnson, Kevin Na and the rest of the LIV Golf field.
Mickelson last competed on the PGA Tour in January, where he missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open. He then finished T-18 a week later at the Saudi International. He has largely avoided the public after making controversial comments about the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia.
“Phil Mickelson is unequivocally one of the greatest golfers of this generation. His contributions to the sport and connection to fans around the globe cannot be overstated and we are grateful to have him. He strengthens an exciting field for London where we’re proud to launch a new era for golf,” said Greg Norman, CEO and Commissioner of LIV Golf.
Five additional players were added to the field, qualifying via the Asian Tour International Series following last week’s International Series England competition at Slayley Hall: Itthipat Buranatanyarat, Viraj Madappa, Travis Smyth, Ian Snyman and Kevin Yuan.
[vertical-gallery id=778047768]
[mm-video type=playlist id=01es6rjnsp3c84zkm6 player_id=01evcfxp4q8949fs1e image=https://golfweek.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]