Phil Mickelson has 'gone dark' says Bryson DeChambeau

No contact with PGA champion after Saudi debacle, reveals American

Bryson DeChambeau: Playing at Augusta despite wrist injury.

The absence of Phil Mickelson is all-consuming — even to those who were most closely linked to his dalliance with Greg Norman’s Saudi-backed rival golf league.

“I’ve tried to reach out but there’s nothing — he’s gone dark,” said Bryson DeChambeau on Monday of the reigning PGA champion. “No contact.” 

Mickelson first went rogue and now he’s disappeared as his leave of absence continues indefinitely.

Phil Mickelson. Mickelson is taking a break from golf following the fall-out from his explosive comments about the PGA Tour and a Saudi-backed rival circuit.

At 51, Mickelson doesn’t have many quality at-bats left at Augusta National. He was able to summon his best self for a week last year at Kiawah Island to become the oldest major winner in history. And hopes of recreating that magic on a golf course he dearly loves and brings out the best in his game were dashed by a public relations tsunami that swept his right out of the game.

There’s a lot of smoke about who called whom to take Mickelson’s name off the list of competitors this week, but the reality is he’s effectively serving time on some self-imposed suspension at best.

While the golf world still awaits Tiger’s official declaration that he’ll play, DeChambeau is dealing with his own game-time decision. He said he’s around 80% and can’t go all-out with his swing as he continues to recover from a wrist injury that has kept him idle most of the year and forced withdrawals in his last two starts in Saudi Arabia and the WGC-Match Play.

His doctors even suggested that he should shut it down for awhile to let himself heal completely and not play this week, but DeChambeau cannot resist trying.

“This only comes around once a year and I’ve got to give this a go,” DeChambeau said.