Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson not scheduled to speak to the media ahead of 2023 PGA Championship
Ahead of the PGA Championship, two key LIV Golf members will not speak to the media. Neither Brooks Koepka nor Phil Mickelson will give a press conference or even answer any questions ahead of the second major tournament this year.
🎙️ Only 1 LIV player (Dustin Johnson) is slated to speak ahead of this weeks @pgachampionship. Past champions Brooks Koepka & Phil Mickelson, both T2 finishers at this years Masters are NOT scheduled to speak to the media.
❌🎙️ Only 1 LIV player (Dustin Johnson) is slated to speak ahead of this weeks @pgachampionship. Past champions Brooks Koepka & Phil Mickelson, both T2 finishers at this years Masters are NOT scheduled to speak to the media. https://t.co/VmnfYrn9Ns
This is a bit ironic, given that both Koepka and Mickelson have won the PGA Championship in the past. Mickelson took the trophy in 2005 and 2021 and Koepka was the victor in 2018 and 2019. Both have had recent success at the major but aren't interested in speaking to the media.
They are among the 18 LIV golfers set to appear in the tournament:
- Abraham Ancer
- Dean Burmester
- Paul Casey
- Bryson DeChambeau
- Talor Gooch
- Dustin Johnson
- Martin Kaymer
- Sihwan Kim
- Brooks Koepka
- Anirban Lahiri
- Phil Mickelson
- Joaquin Niemann
- Mito Pereira
- Thomas Pieters
- Patrick Reed
- Cameron Smith
- Brendan Steele
- Harold Varner III
Injuries and withdrawals may shrink this number, but as it stands, it's a minor portion of the 156-player field the PGA has this year.
Brooks Koepka gearing up for PGA Championship run
Brooks Koepka was second at the Masters after leading for much of the first few rounds. Ironically, he tied with the other LIV Golf star who is skipping media this week: Phil Mickelson.
In his last LIV event the previous weekend, Koepka said he was looking forward to the PGA Championship, via Mirror:
"Yeah, this week just trying to make sure I tune everything up, get ready for next week. I like the majors. I like the discipline, the mental grind that comes with it all, the focus, and just use this week to get ready. That's a huge thing. I've always done it. It's not always about results the week before, but it's about making sure that everything is starting to line up and I can see the progress and see where we're going to be for next week."
Koepka is a two-time winner of the event, but there's undoubtedly a lot of pressure on him this time around. Being a rebel on LIV Golf doesn't come with less pressure in the few events they can still participate in.
This is one of the very few opportunities for LIV stars to improve their world rankings. Mickelson saw a major boost from the Masters, as did Koepka. He enters as the 43rd-ranked golfer right now. Remaining in the top 50 is important for a lot of other qualifiers for events, so this is a big week for Koepka.
Right now, both have halfway decent odds of winning via CBS Sports:
- Jon Rahm 7-1
- Scottie Scheffler 7-1
- Rory McIlroy 11-1
- Patrick Cantlay 18-1
- Brooks Koepka 18-1
- Justin Thomas 20-1
- Dustin Johnson 20-1
- Jason Day 20-1
- Xander Schauffele 22-1
- Collin Morikawa 22-1
- Tony Finau 25-1
- Cameron Young 25-1
- Viktor Hovland 28-1
- Jordan Spieth 28-1
- Max Homa 28-1
- Matthew Fitzpatrick 30-1
- Cameron Smith 30-1
- Sungjae Im 35-1
- Tyrrell Hatton 40-1
- Joonhyung (Tom) Kim 40-1
- Talor Gooch 40-1
- Sam Burns 40-1
- Hideki Matsuyama 45-1
- Patrick Reed 60-1
- Shane Lowry 60-1
- Adam Scott 65-1
- Keegan Bradley 65-1
- Rickie Fowler 65-1
- Sahith Theegala 65-1
- Tommy Fleetwood 70-1
- Wyndham Clark 701
- Justin Rose 75-1
- Joaquin Niemann 75-1
- Abraham Ancer 80-1
- Phil Mickelson 85-1
Several LIV Golf members have a shot this weekend, as per the odds.