Golf’s two biggest names appear to be competing in the PGA Championship.
Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson were both included in the field for the major tournament, occurring at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Okla. next week.
In ordinary circumstances, this would be par for the course — pun intended — but Woods and Mickelson have had tribulations that made their appearances a question mark.
Woods is still on the mend from a debilitating single-car accident last February in California in which he suffered multiple leg fractures amid other injuries. He played The Masters last month, a triumph even Woods himself had doubted in the months before the tournament.
“The fact that he played four rounds in a row on this golf course … I don’t want to use the word ‘amazing,’ but with all he’s been through it’s borderline amazing,’’ Woods’ caddie Joe LaCava told The Post after The Masters.
Mickelson is defending his title at the PGA Championship, having improbably won it last year at the age of 50.
The golf star has been in seclusion in recent months after controversial comments about the PGA Tour and upstart Saudi Golf League. Mickelson accused the PGA Tour of “obnoxious greed” in the amount of money they (don’t) distribute to golfers, and downplayed human rights concerns associated with competing in the Saudi Golf League.
“They’re scary mother [expletive] to get involved with,” Mickelson told his biographer, Alan Shipnuck. “We know they killed [Washington Post reporter Jamal] Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights. They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates.”
Mickelson was thought to be shadow banned by the PGA Tour in the wake of the remarks, with commissioner Jay Monahan declining to confirm or deny those rumors.
Mickelson has not played on the PGA Tour since the Farmers Insurance Open in January, when he missed the cut. He played in the Saudi Invitational in February, and finished a tie for 18th.