Plenty of the golfers on hand for the 2022 PGA Championship are missing Phil Mickelson. Dave Stockton is not one of them.
Stockton, the winner of the 1970 and 1976 PGA Championships, was asked about Mickelson's absence from the annual champions dinner that occurred earlier in the week. He didn't mind at all that Mickelson steered clear of the event.
"It was a fun evening. Phil was not missed," Stockton said, per ESPN.
I think Phil would have been a big distraction whether he was here. The story here this week is the PGA.
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It's understandable that Stockton would feel that way. Mickelson is still dealing with the fallout from comments he made in support of LIV golf, a Saudi-backed golf league, that were also critical of the PGA Tour. He is not in attendance at the PGA Championship as a result of those comments despite being the reigning winner of the major tournament.
Mickelson has not played a PGA Tour event since the Farmers Insurance Open in January. In April, he missed The Masters for the first time in 28 years. His absence at the PGA Championship is his first since 1992.
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While Stockton isn't missing Mickelson this week, some of the golfers on the tour are. Jordan Spieth said that it was "really unfortunate" that the six-time major winner wasn't defending his title a year after becoming the oldest player to ever win a major tournament on the PGA Tour.
"His accomplishment last year was insane, one of the greatest accomplishments in the history of the game," Spieth said.
So I just think it's really unfortunate that as the defending champion he's not here. Hopefully, things can just get back to normal and everybody can kind of get back to the way things were.
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Tiger Woods was a bit more diplomatic in his response. He also acknowledged that he was disappointed Mickelson couldn't defend his title. However, he also recognized that there's a reason why Mickelson is "taking some personal time."
"It's always disappointing when the defending champion is not here," Woods said. "Phil has said some things I think a lot of us who are committed to the tour and committed to the legacy of the tour have pushed back against. And he's taking some personal time."
