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    LIV Golf

    Phil Mickelson WDs from LIV Golf's season opener

    February 03, 2025
    2171808700

    Quinn Harris

    LIV Golf's season-opening event this week will be played under the lights in Saudi Arabia, but one of the tour's brightest stars won't be there.

    Phil Mickelson announced on Monday that he has withdrawn from the LIV Riyadh event due to a minor shoulder injury suffered in the gym recently. The six-time major champ plans to make his 2025 season debut at LIV's event in Australia the following week.

    Mickelson will be replaced in the field by Ollie Schniederjans, who won the Asian Tour's International Series event on Sunday in India. It was the former World No. 1 amateur's first victory in nearly nine years.

    "While preparing for the season, I suffered a minor shoulder injury in the gym last week," Mickelson wrote on Twitter. "I'm definitely disappointed that I will miss the season opener, but I look forward to playing in Adelaide. Ollie Schniederjans will tee it up for me this week, and I will be pulling for my teammates from home."

    This is the first LIV event Mickelson, the captain of the HyFlyers, has missed. He's coming off a disappointing 2024 season in which he had just one top-10 finish.

    LIV's new TV partnership with Fox Sports begins this week. The 54-hole event will run Thursday through Saturday, avoiding Sunday's Super Bowl.