Phil Mickelson Quits Masters: What Did He Say About Saudi Arabia ...

The Match: Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson joke at the tee

Six-time major winner Phil Mickelson will not take part in The Masters for the first time in 28 years. The competition, which starts on April 7, has listed Mickelson on its website as "past champion not playing".

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Mickelson, 51, has not played since the Saudi International tournament in February.

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April's Masters tournament will run from Thursday, April 7 to Sunday, April 10.

The three-time Masters winner has taken a break from competition following backlash over a series of comments he made.

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But what did Mickelson say about Saudi Arabia that has got everyone so angry?

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Read More: Saudi Golf League to launch with first event in UK with $25m jackpot

Phil Mickelson quits Masters: What did he say about Saudi Arabia? (Image: GETTY)

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Mickelson made comments about Saudi Arabia when speaking to author Alan Shipnuck in a phone interview.

Excerpts from an unauthorised biography showed Mickelson said the Saudis were "scary mother****ers to get involved with".

The comments were then posted to the website Firepit Collective.

Mickelson added: “They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it?

"Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates.”

Six time major winner Phil Mickelson will not take part in The Masters next month (Image: GETTY)

Mickelson also said he was willing to look past their human rights records to gain leverage with the PGA Tour.

Saudi Arabia has denied accusations of human rights abuses.

Mickelson also accused the PGA Tour of "obnoxious greed" and behaving like a "dictatorship".

While competing during Saudi International in February, Mickelson told Golf Digest: "It’s not public knowledge, all that goes on.

“But the players don’t have access to their own media. If the tour wanted to end any threat [from Saudi], they could just hand back the media rights to the players…"

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He added: “The media rights are but a small fraction of everything else. And it is the tour’s obnoxious greed that has really opened the door for opportunities elsewhere.”

However, the organisation has since hit back at the fan favourite with a PGA Tour Executive telling Golf.com: “I’ve never seen anybody be really interested in how we generate the money.

“There’s some conversation about it now because, you know, Phil’s making stuff up that’s just not true.

“But in general, they’re happy that there’s a lot of money that comes from it.”

The aftermath of Mickelson's comments have seen him lose sponsors and step back from playing.

Mickelson has taken a break from competition following backlash over comments he made (Image: GETTY) Tournament schedules, scores, players updates and majors news plus selected offers and competitions Subscribe Invalid email

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Mickelson went on to apologise for what was said, saying he believed he had been off the record.

In a statement which was issued by Mickelson’s management company SportFive, the golfer said: “Although it doesn’t look this way now given my recent comments, my actions throughout this process have always been with the best interest of golf, my peers, sponsors, and fans.

“There is the problem of off-record comments being shared out of context and without my consent, but the bigger issue is that I used words I sincerely regret that do not reflect my true feelings or intentions.

“It was reckless, I offended people, and I am deeply sorry for my choice of words. I’m beyond disappointed and will make every effort to self-reflect from this.”

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Mickelson has also opened up about his mental health after spending so much of his career in the public eye.

He said: “I have made a lot of mistakes in my life and many have been shared with the public.

“The past 10 years I have felt the pressure and stress slowly affecting me at a deeper level.

“I know I have not been my best and desperately need some time away to prioritise the ones I love most and work on being the man I want to be.”

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