After winning the Deutsche Bank Championship and taking the lead in the FedEx Cup points standings, Phil Mickelson has withdrawn from this week’s BMW Championship.
“This decision was not an easy one to make,” said Mickelson, “and in no way is meant as disrespectful to the Tour or “sending a message” to anyone. I’ve talked for weeks about needing to find a balance between my game, my business affairs and my family and now is the time for me to take some time off.”
Mickelson has played four events in the last 30 days and has steadily improved his performance on his way back from a debilitating mid-season wrist injury. Just prior to the Deutsche Bank win he shared seventh place at The Barclays. Only the next four players on the FedEx Cup points list – Steve Stricker, Tiger Woods, K.J. Choi and Rory Sabbatini – can possibly overtake Mickelson this week.
“I’m really looking forward to returning to the Tour Championship next week in Atlanta with the momentum I’ve been building and, hopefully, winning the first FedEx Cup,” said Mickelson.
(from: http://www.philmickelson.com/news/view_article.php?s=131)
Phil's decision not to play this week will not be the end of golf as we know it. More than likely he will not retain his points lead after this week, but he will still be in a strong position going into the championship rounds. Expect another good showing from Tiger this week in Phil's absence. Maybe we'll get to find out the background behind Phil's decision not to play Cog Hill.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Phil Mickelson withdraws from the BMW Championship
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Monday, September 3, 2007
Will Phil play at Cog Hill next week?
A few statements made by Phil Mickelson at the conclusion of the final round Monday left everyone guessing as to his intentions for next weekend's FedEx Cup tournament at Cog Hill in Chicago. As we all know, Phil usually wraps up his yearly tournament play shortly after the PGA, but with the new format this year, he's more or less obligated to play in the FedEx events, even more so now that he's leading the points race. However, Phil alluded to reporters this evening that he may not play in the next event because of some promises that had not been fulfilled by PGA commissioner Tim Finchem. We can only speculate what these promises were, and if Phil's possible decision not to play in Chicago could be a sort of payback for Mr. Finchem's lack of response to Phil's requests. It's highly unlikely that the ratings would suffer from Mickelson's absence, as they would if Tiger did not play, but Phil has an obligation to the fans of golf to put aside tour politics and finish out the FedEx matches. Hopefully we'll know something in the next day or so....
