Phil Mickelson will not defend his title at the PGA Championship

Phil Mickelson, who last year became golf’s oldest major champion with his PGA Championship victory, will not defend his title this year, the event said Friday. 

Mickelson has not spoken or appeared in public since he said in February he would be “taking some time away” following controversial comments on the LIV Golf Invitational series, a new, Saudi Arabia-funded golf league. Last May, at the age of 50, he had won the PGA Championship for his sixth major victory.  

“We have just been informed that Phil Mickelson has withdrawn from the PGA Championship,” the PGA Championship said in a release. “Phil is the defending champion and currently eligible to be a PGA Life Member and we would have welcomed him to participate. We wish Phil and Amy the very best and look forward to his return to golf.”

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Nick Piastowski

Golf.com Editor

Nick Piastowski is a Senior Editor at Golf.com and Golf Magazine. In his role, he is responsible for editing, writing and developing stories across the golf space. And when he’s not writing about ways to hit the golf ball farther and straighter, the Milwaukee native is probably playing the game, hitting the ball left, right and short, and drinking a cold beer to wash away his score. You can reach out to him about any of these topics — his stories, his game or his beers — at nick.piastowski@golf.com.