Phil Mickelson has signed a deal with LIV Golf Investments and will play the first event of the Invitational Series this week outside London, ending a four-month hiatus from golf which has embroiled him in controversy.
Mickelson, 51, will begin play Thursday in the $25 million, 54-hole event to be played at Centurion Golf Club, his first tournament action since taking part in the Saudi Arabian International tournament in early February.
“Phil Mickelson is unequivocally one of the greatest golfers of this generation. His contributions to the sport and his connection to fans around the world cannot be overstated and we are grateful to have him,” said Greg Norman, Commissioner. and CEO of LIV Golf. “It reinforces an exciting area for London where we are proud to launch a new era for golf.
Mickelson joins other former big winners such as Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel and Martin Kaymer among the 48 players who will also have a squad component.
The winner of the event receives $4 million.
But Mickelson is apparently much more than that. Johnson has reportedly signed a deal worth more than $100 million for what’s likely to be five years, and Mickelson can expect the same.
This all follows a Golf Digest interview in early February in which Mickelson cited the PGA Tour’s “abhorrent greed” for wanting to explore other options, some of which he said would benefit the Tour.
A winner of six major championships, including last year’s PGA where he became the game’s oldest major winner, Mickelson has seen his image tarnished as several endorsers dump him following these disparaging comments about the PGA. Tour as well as the Saudi regime that supports the LIV Golf series.
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The Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, is the main backer of the series, which will see huge prize money as well as player guarantees, despite not having a television rights deal. . Mickelson is expected to have signed for all eight LIV Golf Invitational Series events, five of which will be played in the United States.
This most likely means his days on the PGA Tour are over. Commissioner Jay Monahan did not give statements on the contentious events for these tournaments and threatened sanctions or even being excluded from the Tour.
Mickelson’s history with the PGA Tour dates back over 30 years. He won his first tournament as an amateur as a junior at Arizona State in 1991. This earned him a PGA Tour membership, which he accepted when he turned pro before the 1992 US Open.
But after opening the year by contesting the Sentry Tournament of Champions, the American Express Championship and the Farmers Insurance Open – he missed the cut in the latter two – Mickelson did not play after a 17th-place finish at the Saudi tournament.
The three-time Masters winner skipped the tournament at Augusta National and also made no attempt to defend his PGA Championship title. No reason was given. In fact, Mickelson hasn’t spoken publicly since posting a lengthy apology on Feb. 22 in which he expressed regret for some of the things he said and suggested he needed to work on some personal issues. before his return.
Mickelson is expected to have a press conference at the LIV Golf event before the tournament.
Full field
(48 players)
Olivier Bekker, South Africa
Richard Bland, England
Itthipat Buranatanyarat, Thailand
Laurie Canter, England
Ratchanon Chantananuwat (amateur), Thailand
Hennie Du Plessis, South Africa
Oliver Fisher, England
Sergio Garcia, Spain
Talor Gooch, United States
Branden Grace, South Africa
Justin Harding, South Africa
Sam Horsfield, England
Dustin Johnson, United States
Matt Jones, Australia
Sadom Kaewkanjana, Thailand
Martin Kaymer, Germany
Phachara Khongwatmai, Thailand
Sihwan Kim, United States
Ryōsuke Kinoshita, Japan
Chase Koepka, United States
Jinichiro Kozuma, Japan
Pablo Larrazabal, Spain
Viraj Madappa, India
Graeme McDowell, Northern Ireland
Phil Mickelson, United States
Jediah Morgan, Australia
Kevin Na, United States
Shaun Norris, South Africa
Andy Ogletree, United States
Louis Oosthuizen, South Africa
Wade Ormsby, Australia
Adrian Otaegui, Spain
Turk Pettit, United States
James Piot (amateur), USA
Ian Poulter, England
David Puig (amateur), Spain
JC Ritchie, South Africa
Charl Schwartzel, South Africa
Travis Smith, Australia
Ian Snyman, South Africa
Hudson Swafford, United States
Hideto Tanihara, Japan
Peter Uihlein, United States
Scott Vincent, Zimbabwe
Lee Westwood, England
Bernd Wiesberger, Austria
Blake Windred, Australia
Kevin Yuan, Australia