PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Is Phil Mickelson suspended from the PGA Tour, or isn’t he?
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, speaking on Tuesday in advance of this week’s Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, spoke in circles on the topic, though he certainly made it sound as if Mickelson may, indeed, be suspended for about the PGA Tour’s “obnoxious greed’’ as well as his dealings with the proposed Saudi golf league.
“Listen, I’m not going to comment – we don’t comment – on disciplinary matters,’’ Monahan said. “Phil has asked for some time to step away, and I’m not going to comment any further on that.’’
Mickelson, 51 and a past champion of the Players Championship, issued a statement last month amidst the fury apologizing for what he termed as “reckless’’ comments, saying he was “deeply sorry for my choice of words.’’
“I’m beyond disappointed and will make every effort to self-reflect and learn from this,” Mickelson said in the statement. “I know I have not been my best and desperately need some time away to prioritize the ones I love most and work on being the man I want to be.”
Whether that “time away’’ is a result of a suspension or simply Mickelson opting to take it on his own remains uncertain.
“I have not talked to Phil since he made his comments and since he said that he was stepping away,’’ Monahan said. “I think the ball is in his court. I would welcome a phone call from him. But it’s hard for me to talk about the different scenarios that could play out.
“He has said that he’s stepping away and he wants time for reflection. That’s something that I and we are going to respect and honor. When he’s ready to come back to the PGA Tour, we’re going to have that conversation. That’s a conversation I look forward to.”
Those words suggest that Mickelson is required by the PGA Tour to speak to Monahan before he plays another tournament.
Asked specifically if Mickelson had not opted to take “time away’’ and wanted to play in The Players Championship this week, he would have been “welcome’’ to do so, Monahan said.
“He stepped away on his own accord, and he’s asked for time. He’s been given that time. We don’t comment on disciplinary matters, potential matters or actual matters. But every player is accountable for their actions out here.’’
The words “accountable for their actions out here’’ carry significant read-between-the-lines weight.
Neither Mickelson nor his representatives have commented about whether or not he’s suspended.
The next true pressure point to this issue will be at the Masters next month at Augusta National, where Mickelson is a three-time past champion. Technically, the Masters is a PGA Tour event, but the powers that be at Augusta are the ones who run the event. They revere their past champions and Mickelson is one of the most popular players in the world.
From Mickelson’s standpoint, he cherishes the Masters like no other tournament and, at his age, he knows the window is closing rapidly on the number of chances he has to win a fourth green jacket.
So, despite his “time away,’’ it’s difficult to imagine him skipping this year’s Masters of his own accord.
Monahan, meanwhile, aggressively began his state-of-the-PGA Tour press conference with strong words about where he stands with regard to the potential threat of the Saudi league.
“Before I make some additional comments on The Players Championship, I wanted to take a moment to address all of the news, discourse and conjecture lately about the world of professional golf,’’ he began. “The PGA Tour is moving on. We have too much momentum and too much to accomplish to be consistently distracted by rumors of other golf leagues and their attempts to disrupt our players, our partners, and most importantly our fans from enjoying the Tour and the game we all love so much.
“I am grateful for the strong support our top players have shown recently and publicly.’’
Indeed, the world’s best players, including world no. 1 Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas and many more have recently gone public about their allegiance to the PGA Tour. This, of course, has been damaging to the Saudi golf league, led by Greg Norman, as they’ve tried to recruit top players.
Monahan has made it clear to PGA Tour players that they’ll be banned from the Tour if they join the Saudi league. Asked on Tuesday if he feels this battle may end up in court, Monahan said, “Listen, our PGA Tour rules and regulations were written by the players, for the players. They’ve been in existence for over 50 years.
“I’m confident in our rules and regulations, my ability to administer them, and that’s my position on the matter. I can’t say it any more clearly that we’re confident in our position and we’re going to keep moving forward as a PGA Tour and focus on the things that we control.’’
Monahan, too, was asked about The Post’s recent story that revealed a concept proposed by four of the top players in the world and an investor to create a team league that would be folded into the current PGA Tour schedule, a plan that would have thwarted the threat of the Saudi league.
“I always act in the best interests of the PGA Tour, and in that instance and in many instances there are proposals that come our way that just don’t make sense,’’ Monahan said. “That was one of them.’’
Asked what about that concept didn’t make sense, Monahan gave a non-answer, saying, “There wasn’t a lot of conversation around the concept. It didn’t make sense from the outset.’’
