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ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – Phil Mickelson said he was contacted by the R&A a few weeks back and basically was asked not to attend the Celebration of Champions on Monday and the Champions’ Dinner on Tuesday.
The 2013 Open champion decided to pass on both.
And he was less than heartbroken.
“(The R&A) said, ‘Look, we don’t think it’s a great idea you go, but if you want to, you can,’” Mickelson said following Thursday’s first round of the 150th Open Championship. “I just didn’t want to make a big deal about it, so I said fine.
“We both kind of agreed that it would be best if I didn’t.”
Mickelson has still had a great week. He first took to the Old Course last Friday and has played every day since. And the Auld Grey Toun has not disappointed.
“I love being here. Everybody here loves golf, and we find this place to be very spiritual,” he said. “As great as this game has been to me, to be able to come here to the (Home of Golf) and compete again, I think this is my sixth one here.
“I just see the greatness in the course when you get different winds because you see bunkers you don’t even know are there. Just the greatness of it kind of shines. I love playing and competing here. It’s just a special place.”
Mickelson seems to be coming out of a vortex of strife in his life since he made derogatory and inflammatory remarks about the PGA Tour and its commissioner, Jay Monahan, as well as the oppressive Saudi Arabia regie that is bankrolling LIV Golf. He went on a four-month sabbatical. He’s been indefinitely suspended from the PGA Tour. And he’s making just his seventh start this year – two on the LIV Golf circuit.
But he has no regrets about joining the rival league that has disrupted the ecosystem of men’s pro golf. Mickelson reportedly got $200 million to join. The member of the World Golf Hall of Fame was heckled a bit in his first-round 72 but wasn’t bothered in the least.
“I think that I couldn’t be more excited and ecstatic with where I’m at,” he said. “I love the events. I get to have golf in my life and competitive golf in my life on a scale that is fun, exciting, different, and lets me play and compete but still do the things outside that I want to do. I’ve got a nice trip lined up after this and things that I haven’t been able to do in the past. So, no, I couldn’t be happier.
“I made the right decision for me. I couldn’t be happier. I think it’s been really good. I can’t wait to get to New Jersey and play another event there.”
Mickelson also can’t wait to put his game back together.
“So I had four months off. Obviously, when I came back, I wasn’t really sharp. I thought I was playing a little bit better than I was,” he said. “My game doesn’t feel far off at all. It just doesn’t.
“I let a few strokes slide today, but for the most part, I actually feel pretty good with, like, the parts, but I’ve just got to bring them together to make the whole. I actually think I have some good rounds in me. I think I’m going to play really well the next few days.”
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