Mickelson was not ‘disinvited’ says Ridley
PHIL MICKELSON was not “disinvited” from the 86th Masters, according to tournament chairman Fred Ridley.
Mickelson is taking a break from golf following the fall-out from his explosive comments about the PGA Tour and a Saudibacked rival circuit, the six-time major winner accusing the former of “obnoxious greed” and acting like a “dictatorship”.
The 51-year-old also admitted he was well aware of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record but was using the threat of a breakaway to “reshape” how the Tour operates.
It had been suggested that Mickelson had either been banned by the PGA Tour or encouraged by Masters officials not to compete at Augusta National this week, but Ridley said the latter was certainly not the case.
“We did not disinvite Phil,” Ridley said in his annual pretournament press conference.
“He is a three-time Masters champion and is invited in that category and many others. He is the (US) PGA champion.
“Phil reached out to me, I think in late February, early March and let me know he did not intend to play. That was by way of text.
“I thanked him for his courtesy of letting me know and told him I was willing to discuss that further if he liked and we had a very cordial exchange.
“He made a personal decision and I don’t know anything beyond that.
“Phil has been a real fixture here for many, many years and a big part of our history and we certainly wish him the best in working through the issues he has now.”
Ridley declined to be drawn on whether players who competed in events on the rival tour – recently named the LIV Golf Invitational Series – would subsequently not be invited to the Masters.
“We have been pretty clear in our belief that the world tours have done a great job in promoting the game over the years.
“Beyond that, there’s so much that we don’t know about what might happen or could happen that I just don’t think I could say much more beyond that.”