Phil Mickelson is sitting out this weekend’s LIV Golf United Kingdom event, extending a 2026 absence that has already held him out of every major championship.
The withdrawal comes as Mickelson’s marriage draws scrutiny as misconduct allegations continue trailing him, raising questions about whether he will golf professionally again this year — or ever.
Mickelson is listed as withdrawn on the tournament leaderboard at JCB Golf & Country Club this week, and HyFlyers GC has again turned to wildcard Scott Vincent to replace him, the third time this season Vincent has filled the spot. Vincent has finished fourth in Mexico City, eighth in Virginia and fifth in Korea while standing in, outperforming Mickelson’s own results.
Mickelson’s Absence Covers Entire Major Season
Mickelson has played exactly one competitive event in 2026, a tie for 48th at LIV Golf South Africa in mid-March. Every other start on his 2026 calendar, from Riyadh to Adelaide to this week’s UK stop, has gone to a replacement.
He has also missed the Masters, the PGA Championship, the U.S. Open and the Open Championship, marking the first time in his career he has sat out all four majors in the same year. His Open exemption keeps him eligible into his 60s, but that cushion hasn’t gotten him back on a golf course.
Mickelson cited the same reason in February that he’s repeated with every absence since, writing that “Amy and I need to be present for a family health matter,” according to Golf Monthly.
A more specific account surfaced in June, when golf insider Alan Shipnuck reported that one of the Mickelsons’ children, not Phil or Amy, had been the one dealing with health concerns. No diagnosis has been made public.
Amy Mickelson’s Missing Wedding Ring
The health matter isn’t the only storyline shadowing Mickelson’s absence. Golf Digest reported in June that he’s no longer a member at The Farms Golf Club outside San Diego, after a female club employee accused him of nonconsensual and inappropriate physical contact before a round there this spring.
Club officials confronted Mickelson mid-round and asked him to leave before he finished, and he never returned, per the report. A representative later confirmed Mickelson resigned, telling Golf Digest that “any misunderstanding has been cleared up.”
A subsequent investigation from golf writer Alan Shipnuck expanded the picture further, alleging Mickelson had also been pushed out of two additional San Diego-area clubs and reporting a claim from Ashley Perez, ex-wife of golfer Pat Perez, that Mickelson showed her a nude photo of himself in 2015 and propositioned her. Mickelson’s representatives rejected the reporting outright, calling it an anonymously sourced drive-by shooting built for clicks rather than accuracy.
Mickelson’s wife Amy, however, was photographed without her wedding ring this week during a grocery run with the couple’s daughter, Amanda Brynn, according to TMZ. It marked her first public sighting since the misconduct claims broke, and neither Mickelson nor his wife has commented on what it means for their marriage.
Nothing connects the apparently missing ring, the allegations and the LIV withdrawal officially. Mickelson’s camp still points only to the family health matter as the reason he’s missing this week in England, leaving the rest of golf to wonder how much longer that explanation will continue.
Why Is Phil Mickelson Not Playing LIV Golf United Kingdom This Weekend?