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Phil Mickelson has been quite vocal in the recent past about the harsh qualification criteria for the LIV Golf Players at the 2023 PGA Championship. He has often taken to social media in order to defend golfers like Sergio Garcia who did not make the field for Oak Hill.
Many of the LIV Golfers did not make qualifications because they fell out of the OWGR rankings. This came after the board banned them for defecting to the Saudi-backed series.
Phil Mickelson, meanwhile, has once again taken a shot at the PGA Tour. He spoke in a rather reserved manner with the reporters after finishing his fourth round at Oak Hill.
Phil Mickelson became only the third golfer to make the cut at 100 majors, to add to his record of being the oldest major winner ever. However, most of his conferences were filled with questions about the Ryder Cup and LIV Golf. So, Mickelson decided to speak and in a rather cryptic manner he said:
"I guess it’s because I know some things that others don’t. I just want to make sure everybody’s held accountable. I know a lot of stuff that will come out later."
Phil Mickelson tries to stay away from controversy at the PGA Championship
Phil Mickelson has done his best to stay away from any of the controversy regarding the Ryder Cup or the LIV Series the best he can. He did, however, speak about the future of the LIV Series, saying:
"We’re only a year. I’m thinking three to five years out where we’ll be. To me it’s just starting. In two more years, that’s when we need to look back and say we are where we want to be. It seems like we’re well on that path."
The 2023 PGA Championship has proven to be one of the toughest tournaments of the year. Of the cut field of 76, only nine players have stayed at or below par going into the third round of the Championship.
The rainy conditions and the tough hole locations have made it a difficult course for the golfers to handle. LIV Golfer and two-time PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka holds the current lead, with Viktor Hovland, Scottie Scheffler and Corey Conners hot at his heels.
