By this time, the dust was supposed to have settled on the PGA Tour LIV Golf battle. The two sides agreed to bury the hatchet. Neither PIF nor the PGA Tour would have wanted it to be a trending narrative during the Masters. Yet, that’s exactly how this is going and it just got worse, embroiling Phil Mickelson in the mix.
Augusta National released the pre-tournament interview schedule. Among the former champions, Lefty’s name was a glaring miss. Needless to say, fans weren’t pleased and let out their frustration at the decision.
No Lefty in the Masters presser; Woods gets 1.30 hours?
Augusta National released its press conference schedule ahead of the Masters. 14 players were included in the three-day schedule – five on Monday, including past Masters champion, Hideki Matsuyama, and 10 on Tuesday, including Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka, and the defending champion, Jon Rahm. On Wednesday Fred Ridley will be the sole golfer speaking to the press.
Woods getting a 90-minute window didn’t sit well with fans. However, there is a possibility that there will be a break post-Woods as it might be the case with Rahm’s media address. Here is the full schedule.
Monday
- 2 p.m.: Brian Harman
- 2:30 p.m.: Jasper Stubbs, Santiago de la Fuente
- 3 p.m.: Hideki Matsuyama
- 3:30 p.m.: Xander Schauffele
Tuesday
- 9:30 a.m.: Viktor Hovland
- 10 a.m.: Jon Rahm
- 11 a.m.: Tiger Woods
- 12:30 p.m.: Rory McIlroy
- 1 p.m.: Ludvig Åberg
- 1:30 p.m.: Wyndham Clark
- 2:30 p.m.: Jordan Spieth
- 3 p.m.: Scottie Scheffler
- 3:30 p.m.: Brooks Koepka
Wednesday
- 11 a.m.: Fred Ridley, Augusta National GC chairman
Many big names are missing from the list, including former champions and Mickelson’s LIV Golf teammates, Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia, and others. However, Mickelson’s exclusion has caught the most attention, as Lefty was the joint runner-up last year.
Notably, last year, too, Phil Mickelson was not included in the pre-tournament press conference. The three-time Masters champion, a self-admitted divisive figure, hasn’t commented on the matter. Rather, the 45-time PGA Tour winner is more focused on the Masters prep at Trump Doral. His fans, however, didn’t tolerate the cold shoulder given to one of the most successful players in the Masters’ history.
Phil Mickelson fans take matters into their own hands
In addition to his runner-up finish last year, Mickelson has 15 top-10s from his 30 appearances. He finished outside the top-25 only on nine occasions. Notably, Mickelson is also the most successful lefty at Augusta. Quite naturally, fans didn’t take the snub very kindly. A fan termed it an “absolute disgrace” when Dan Rapaport shared the schedule on his X (formerly Twitter) handle.
