The six-time major champion has registered to play in the U.S. Open in June and his agents have requested a release from the PGA Tour to allow him to play in the first event of the Saudi Arabian-financed LIV Golf Invitation.
Steve Loy of Sportfive said in a statement that he hasn't decided whether to play in any of the events.
Phil has no concrete plans on when and where he will play.
The deadline for players to request a conflicting event release from the PGA Tour was Monday.
Since missing the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open in late January, Phil has not played in an official tour event. An excerpt from an unauthorized biography of Phil Mickelson was released in which he criticized the PGA Tour and said he was involved with drawing up a working agreement for a league being financed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. In it, he described the Saudis as scary but said he was looking past their history of human rights violations to gain leverage.
The comments from the golfer drew a lot of criticism, and he apologized days later.
Several of his sponsors ended their relationships with him. Callaway stopped its relationship with him. He would no longer be the host of the American Express tournament and it would no longer be associated with his foundation.
The three-time Masters champion didn't play in the tournament for the first time since 1994. Augusta National Golf Club chairman Fred Ridley said that Lefty was qualified to play, but he chose not to. It would have been his 30th Masters start.
After becoming the oldest major champion in history at 50 years of age in May 2021, Lefty is the defending PGA Championship winner.
Southern Hills Country Club in Oklahoma will host the PGA Championship. The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts will host the U.S. Open in June.
The LIV Golf Series, which is being fronted by two-time Open Championship winner Greg Norman, will stage eight events this year, with seven regular-season tournaments. The finale of the series will take place at the Trump National Doral in Miami, which is owned by former U.S. President Donald Trump.
The total prize money for the eight events will be $255 million, and the seven regular-season tournaments will have total purses of $25 million, which would be the richest in professional golf, with $20 million in individual prizes and $5 million for the top three teams. The $30 million bonus will be shared by the top three individuals after the seven regular-season events.
$50 million in prizes will be given to 12 teams in a knockout-style event for the season-ending team match-play championship. The four players on the winning team will split their winnings.
Norman said in a statement on Monday that there could not be a better location to host the biggest event of the year.
Since the opening LIV event in London conflicts with the Canadian Open in Ontario on June 9-12, the tour players would have to be granted a release to compete.
After the PGA Championship in May of last year, the commissioner of the PGA Tour told the players that anyone who joined the Saudi-financed league would be suspended and could face a lifetime ban from the tour.
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