Phil Mickelson opened with an even-par 72 at St. Andrews, where he said he has enjoyed the week despite being asked to miss 150th British
Michael Madrid/USA Today
ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – It’s been a quiet week at the Home of Golf for Phil Mickelson, who arrived last Saturday but didn’t take part in any of the 150th British Open celebrations, including the past champions dinner held at the R&A clubhouse on Tuesday.
Turns out that while he was not prohibited from attending, Mickelson said the R&A suggested it would best if he skipped it.
“The R&A contacted me a couple weeks before and said, ‘look, we don’t think it’s a great idea you go, but if you want to, you can,’’’ Mickelson said after shooting even-par 72 in the opening round of The Open. “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.’’
An R&A spokesman did not offer an official comment but said Mickelson’s version is correct.
And so goes the continuing LIV Golf saga.
Mickelson, 52, won The Open at Muirfield in 2013 and would have been expected to take part in the four-hole champions celebration at the Old Course on Monday as well as the past champions dinner on Tuesday.
As one of the leading figures in the LIV Golf project, his presence was deemed problematic. Same for Greg Norman, the two-time Open champion and CEO of LIV Golf who was not invited to the festivities.
Martin Slumbers, CEO of the R&A, made it clear during a pre-tournament news conference, that he is not in favor of the LIV concept and was keen to avoid distractions.
“This is a very important week for golf,’’ Slumbers said. “This is the oldest championship. It’s the original championship. I keep going back to remembering why in 1860 we played it, and that was because of the death of Allan Robertson, who was the best golfer in the world in 1859. And for 149 times it’s been the Champion Golfer of the Year on Sunday.
“We are absolutely determined to ensure that this goes down in history as about The 150th Open. We decided that there would be, based on noise that I was receiving from multiple sources, that that was going to be potentially unlikely.
“We decided that we didn’t want the distraction. We wanted to ensure that the conversation was all about this week and playing golf and balls in the air (Thursday) and the Champion Golfer on Sunday.’’
At the dinner on Tuesday, it was announced that Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Paul Lawrie were named honorary members of the R&A.
Mickelson, who took four months off from the game in the wake of critical comments about the PGA Tour and the Saudi Arabia regime that is underwriting the LIV venture, spent about eight minutes talking with reporters on Thursday, and seemed at peace with the idea of being in the background.
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“I love being here,’’ Mickelson said. “Everybody here loves golf, and we find this place to be very spiritual. 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’ve had some great moments here. I don’t know if you guys remember the Dunhill Cup, but I ended up being a part of the winning Dunhill Cup in ’96 with Steve Stricker and Mark O’Meara. And we had all these rounds and different weather conditions. It was really special to play here in all the different conditions.
“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’s game has not responded since his return at the first LIV event outside of London last month. He missed the cut at the U.S. Open and then had another tough week at the Portland event.
In nine rounds since his return, Mickelson has broken par just once – a 1-under 69 in the first event.
“So had four months off,’’ Mickelson said. “Obviously when I came back, I wasn’t really sharp. I thought I was playing a little bit better than I was. 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 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.
“I let a few shots slide here and there. I three-putted 11 and 18. Granted it’s from difficult spots, but those are the shots you can’t throw away, right, if you’re going to play well here. I just gave away a few too many shots. But I hit a lot of good ones.’’
Mickelson was pressed on the subject of missing the dinner and some of the 150th festivities and if he had any misgivings.
“No, not at all,’’ he said. “I think that I couldn’t be more excited and ecstatic with where I’m at. 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.’’
Mickelson was among the first big-name players to sign up for the new LIV Golf Invitational Series, following Dustin Johnson. Sergio Garcia, Patrick Reed, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and several others have joined up to receive massive up front guarantees and purses that are $25 million.
“I made the right decision for me. And I’m excited about having the opportunity to play competitive golf and have it in my life in a more moderate scale to where I can do some things outside of that too,’’ he said. “I freed up a lot of time as well.
“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. The player experience, the experience of those events from a player standpoint is a 10. You can’t get it any better. Look, it’s not my job to explain or help you understand or whatever. It’s just, I couldn’t be happier.’’
As for Woods’ pointed criticism of LIV on Tuesday, Mickelson said “I certainly respect his opinion. I have a lot of respect for him. I respect his opinion. I think everybody’s going to have strong emotions and opinions about it, and I certainly respect his.’’