Jay Monahan says the ball is in Phil Mickelson's court to discuss his recent comments about the tour. (0:52)
During his Sunday practice round for the 86th Masters, Tiger Woods was walking up the third fairway at Augusta National. The two acknowledged each other, with mock air high-fives from a distance, then went on about their preparation.
In the last few weeks, DeChambeau has tried to connect with Phil Mickelson, who remains in exile amid backlash over his comments about the Saudi Golf League, but has heard nothing back.
DeChambeau said he tried to reach out, but he was gone dark.
This is the first time since 1994 that Lefty is not competing at the Masters. He is taking a break from golf after making controversial comments in an excerpt from a book. He was willing to look past their history of human rights violations to challenge the PGA Tour, despite the fact that he called the Saudis "scary motherf----s".
The Saudi Golf League had been linked to DeChambeau, but he decided to stay with the PGA Tour.
DeChambeau arrives at Augusta National with bigger concerns than the absence of Phil, who last year became the oldest major winner in history at 50. On Monday, DeChambeau detailed the full extent of his injuries and that he had returned to competitive golf against the advice of his doctors.
He said that they recommended that he not come back for a while.
The wear-and-tear that comes with trying to gain distance, which DeChambeau has done since remaking his body and his game, took its toll. He said he had a broken hamate bone in his left hand and a labrum tear in his left hip.
One of the things I didn't do was take care of my hands and hip, and I went pretty hard.
ping-pong made things worse because of the search for more speed.
He said that he was playing ping-pong against two other people, and they wiped it. I couldn't even hold the golf club at that point. It was impossible for me to play that week in Saudi Arabia. I didn't hold my left hand that week. I had to take care of my body first and get it right.
The WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play was where DeChambeau returned to the PGA Tour at the end of March. He did not make it to the knockout round.
He said that he was proud of the fact that he was able to get here in a short amount of time.
The past few weeks have been very, very difficult on me, not playing well and not hitting it anywhere near where I know I should be hitting it. It is not fun to yell off the tee.
The lure of Augusta National was too much for DeChambeau to ignore.
It was probably not one that my doctors recommended, but I decided to do so because I wanted to give the Masters a try.
He took a risk by competing at the Match Play, but he is rethinking it. The week after the Masters, DeChambeau is going to compete in a long-drive competition.
He said that it may not be the smartest thing to do.
DeChambeau, who was ranked eighth in the world but 19th at the time, is focused on trying to win his second major. He won the 2020 U.S. Open. He won't be doing it at full strength to get a green jacket.
He said that he was probably around 80%.
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