The fourth season of LIV Golf gets underway on the 6th February in Riyadh, but one of its biggest names has revealed he won't be present in Saudi Arabia due to injury.
Phil Mickelson, who captains HyFlyers GC, announced via his social media that he will miss the season opener due to a shoulder injury picked up in the gym.
Posting online, Mickelson's statement read: "While preparing for the season, I suffered a minor shoulder injury in the gym last week. I'm definitely disappointed that I will miss the season opener, but I look forward to playing in Adelaide."
In the statement, Mickelson also revealed that recent International Series India winner Ollie Schniederjans will take his place, as he joins Andy Ogletree, Brendan Steele and Cameron Tringale, with Mickelson set to stay at home instead of making the journey to Riyadh.
Getting underway on the 6th - 8th February, LIV Golf Riyadh will be played under the lights at Riyadh Golf Club, as post-sunset tee times will be used in order to better suit a US audience following the circuit's new TV deal with Fox Sports.
Just recently, the League announced a 'multi-year' deal with Fox Sports and, in Riyadh, the opening round is set to begin at 6:15pm local time (10:15am ET/3:15pm GMT) on Thursday. From there, round two is scheduled to begin at the same time while the third and final round will start 10 minutes earlier at 6:05pm local time (10:05am ET).
In terms of Mickelson's results on the LIV Golf League, the six-time Major winner has currently played every single tournament, with his best result a tie for sixth at LIV Golf Jeddah in 2024.
For 2023, he finished 39th in the individual standings and then 46th in 2024, with his HyFlyers GC side's best result being a third place finish at LIV Golf Adelaide.
