If that was how it all ended for Phil Mickelson in the majors, what a bizarre way to go out: being asked to sign a glove by your playing partner, a one-time Australian bikie who spent five years in prison.
At first, Mickelson didn’t think he was serious. But Perth’s Ryan Peake, who has put his life back together and is trying to climb the golfing ladder again, wanted a memento after being curiously paired with Mickelson at Royal Portrush last year.
As it stands, the glove might be more valuable than even Peake realised.
For the first time since 1993, golf’s oldest and grandest major won’t feature Mickelson or Tiger Woods this week. That’s a heck of a run. Back then, Paul Keating won the federal election to hand Labor a fifth consecutive term in government, Juan Antonio Samaranch muttered Sydney had won the Olympic Games and Shane Warne produced the “ball of the century” to befuddle Mike Gatting.
A couple of weeks ago on the R&A’s official website, Mickelson’s name quietly disappeared from the list of qualifiers at Royal Birkdale, the seaside beauty not far from the River Mersey in north-west England. It was a hardly a surprise.
Mickelson has barely played professionally this year – his last appearance was LIV Golf’s South African tournament in March (he skipped the Adelaide event a few weeks earlier) – citing a personal health matter, believed to be for one his close relatives.
But since March, Mickelson has been the subject of intense reporting about his personal life, first for a mysterious exit from a private country club in the United States over misconduct allegations, and then later a series of behavioural issues raised by longtime golf journalist Alan Shipnuck, who had previously written a seething biography about Mickelson.
A separate Shipnuck expose last month included testimony from Ashley Perez, the ex-wife of tour professional and former LIV Golf player Pat Perez, that Mickelson showed her a full length nude photo of himself and asked her to visit him in his room when her then husband went to sleep at a PGA Tour event years ago. In the story, a spokeswoman for Mickelson didn’t directly address the allegation.
It’s hard to know if there’s a professional path back for Mickelson, who has skipped all four majors this year.
The LIV Golf revolution he so desperately championed is desperately looking for cash to stay alive after Saudi Arabia vowed to withdraw its multi-billion dollar support at the end of 2026.
If not LIV for Mickelson, then where?
It’s impossible to think the PGA Tour would entertain a Mickelson return to either its main or champions tour, and it’s even longer odds to suggest he would covet one.
At the start of this year, the PGA Tour announced a one-off criteria for LIV players to return to their ranks alongside Brooks Koepka. It needed a player to have won a major championship from 2022 onwards, meaning only Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Australia’s Cameron Smith fitted the bill. Phil Mickelson won his last major at the age of 50 … in 2021.
Augusta National and The R&A, which stage golf’s two biggest tournaments, unashamedly pursue perfection. They don’t want bad publicity, and Mickelson stepping foot on their grounds would immediately divert attention elsewhere. Mickelson has a lifetime ticket to return to Augusta as a three-time Masters champion, but he didn’t dare use it in April for Rory McIlroy’s champions dinner.
At a tournament he struggled at for so long until his 2013 win, Mickelson showed he can still compete at The Open last year at 55. He stumbled home in a tie for 56th, but it was impressive enough just to make the cut on a brutal course kissing the Atlantic Ocean. Nine Australians started the week, and only one made the weekend: Marc Leishman. Cameron Smith, Adam Scott, Jason Day et al did not.
Yet now, Mickelson is golf’s black sheep – and he knows it.
Compare it with Woods, who fell foul of the actual law again this year when he was alleged to have been driving under the influence after a rollover crash in Florida. It’s believed Woods hadn’t consumed alcohol and his impairment was likely due to medication.
Why Woods even gets behind the wheel given his long and ugly driving record is a mystery.
Like Mickelson, Woods also hasn’t picked up a club at any of the four majors this year. He has been to rehab, has continued to be kept abreast of the PGA Tour’s future schedule and will, no doubt, be accepted back into the warm bosom of the golfing fraternity when he’s ready.
Mickelson, for all his faults, will not.
Many will argue golf has long moved on from Woods and Mickelson, and that is true. Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy own this era. Yet one of Woods or Mickelson, if not both, have always been there, a reminder of golf’s reverence for its legends.
But for Mickelson, at least, the glove doesn’t seem to fit any more. And it’s hard to know if it ever will again.