Is Phil Mickelson Preparing To Make His Return To Golf This Summer?

After an extended break from the Tour, it looks like Phil Mickelson is finally ready to make his comeback.

The 51-year-old American has officially applied to be included in the upcoming U.S. Open field,  this coming after missing out on the Masters for the first time in 28 years. Phil Mickelson hasn’t played competitively since late January at the Farmers Insurance Open, where he finished at +3 and missed the cut. It seems like the best of the future Hall of Famer is now behind him.

The season clearly hasn’t gone as planned as he has missed the cut in his past 2 events, and in the process fallen to 210th place in the FedEx Rankings, and 51st in the World. Now, after a 2-month hiatus, Phil Mickelson is looking to rejuvenate the last stretch of his career at one of the biggest events on the golfing schedule each and every year.

Phil Mickelson has had a turbulent 2022 so far

Phil Mickelson has had a tough stretch this year, both on and off the course. Earlier this year he came out and endorsed the new Saudi LIV league, backed by others like Greg Norman who have said that it presents players with a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates”. Phil’s actions proved to be costly as he faced immediate backlash from many of the best on Tour and lost endorsements from KPGI, Workday, Amstel, and Callaway.

After later apologizing for his ‘reckless’ comments, Mickelson seemed to disappear from the spotlight and hasn’t played on Tour since. It seems like he even distanced himself from others on Tour, as Bryson DeChambeau stated during the Masters that when he tried to reach out he never heard back.

“I’ve tried to reach out, but he’s gone dark. There’s no contact” Bryson said.

After an eventful and stressful few months for the American, it would appear as though Phil Mickelson is ready to make his return and resume what has been an illustrious career. However, several question marks remain, including what happened during his disappearance?, and how will he look if he can find his way into the U.S. Open field in June at Brookline?. Then there is the question as to whether or not we will see him defend his PGA Championship in May.