WILL MICKELSON EVEN DEFEND HIS TITLE?

If he has any say in the matter, Phil Mickelson won’t pass up the chance to remind everyone what he did last year. He’s too much of an ego-manic to continue to let a little controversy stand in his way, especially after he skipped the Masters for the first time in 28 years.

Perhaps the bigger question is what kind of reaction he’ll receive from fans and players alike when he does make his comeback. Mickelson hasn’t been seen since early February after confessing that he colluded with the Saudis to set up a rival circuit to the PGA Tour. He even described the Saudi state as “scary motherf ***** s” before admitting that it was all a ruse to gain leverage against the Tour. Rory echoed many of our thoughts by branding him “naive, egotistical, selfish, ignorant”.

Mickelson has since apologised for his “reckless” comments, which he claims were made “off the record” to Alan Shipnuck – the author of the soon-to-be-released book, Phil: The Rip-roaring (and Unauthorized!) Biography of Golf ’s Most Colorful Superstar – in November. The fallout has been extensive.

The six-time Major champion has lost sponsorship deals with Workday, KPMG and Amstel Light, while Callaway have “paused” their relationship after nearly two decades together. Even Mickelson’s friends have turned against him after he accused the PGA Tour of “obnoxious greed”, which is quite rich coming from a man who has accepted $10 million in appearance fees to play the Saudi International over the years.

There are strong rumours that the 51-year-old has been suspended by the PGA Tour, though we may never know the given they never publicly reveal such sanctions. In a statement, he claimed he was taking a break from the game “to work on becoming the man I want to be”.

Whatever the real reason for his absence, ‘Brand Phil’ has suffered the biggest reputational smearing in golf since Tiger’s infidelities became public knowledge.

Mickelson has already been stripped of hosting duties for the American Express PGA Tour event, and any hopes he had of captaining the US Ryder Cup team at Bethpage Black in 2025 – or any year for that matter – have evaporated along with the respect of his peers.