AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Three-time champion Phil Mickelson withdrew from the Masters on Thursday, citing a personal health matter with his family that kept him out of all but one of the five LIV Golf events this year.
“Unfortunately I will not play in the Masters Tournament next week and will be out for an extended period of time as my family continues to navigate a personal health matter,” Mickelson posted on social media.
Tiger Woods said Tuesday he was taking an indefinite leave to seek treatment after his arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence in a Feb. 27 crash in Florida.
It will be the first time neither Woods nor Mickelson will be at the Masters since 1994, when Woods was a senior in high school and Mickelson had broken his leg while skiing earlier that year.
Mickelson called the Masters “definitely the most special week of the year,” and his record reflects that. He won his first major at Augusta National in 2004, the last player to win the Masters by one shot with a birdie putt on the 72nd hole.
He also won in 2006 and in 2010, one of only eight players to win the Masters at least three times.
Mickelson has not shared details of the personal family matter. He sat out LIV's four events to start the year and returned in South Africa two weeks ago, tying for 48th in the 57-man field.
“It's just fun to be back playing,” he said in South Africa.
The only other time Mickelson missed the Masters was in 2022, when he took a leave of absence after inflammatory remarks as the Saudi-funded LIV Golf was preparing to launch.
Mickelson accused the PGA Tour of “obnoxious greed” in a Golf Digest interview. In an interview with author Alan Shipnuck for his book on Mickelson, he dismissed Saudi Arabia's human rights record and the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi as a once-in-a-lifetime chance to reshape the PGA Tour.
The remarks cost him corporate sponsorships. Mickelson joined LIV later that year.
The Masters starts April 9 with a 91-man field, with one spot still available if the winner of this week's Texas Open is not already eligible.
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FILE - Phil Mickelson tees off on the 13th hole during the first round of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Oakmont Country Club, June 12, 2025, in Oakmont, Pa. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
After crashing his SUV last week in Florida, Tiger Woods took out his phone and told a deputy, “I was just talking to the president,” according to body camera footage released Thursday showing Woods' arrest on a DUI charge.
The phone conversation was not captured on video, and it wasn't clear if Woods was referring to President Donald Trump, whose former daughter-in-law, Vanessa Trump, is dating Woods.
Shortly after the golfer's March 27 arrest, Trump was asked about Woods and told reporters: “I feel so badly. He’s got some difficulty. Very close friend of mine. He’s an amazing person. Amazing man. But, some difficulty.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Trump spoke to Woods after the crash.
The footage also shows how Woods appeared to be astonished as he was handcuffed after failing a sobriety test and a video from the back of the patrol car shows the handcuffed golfer hiccupping, yawning and repeatedly appearing to nod off during the 15-minute ride.
Woods told authorities he was looking at his phone and changing the radio station when his speeding Land Rover clipped the back of a truck and rolled onto its side on a residential road on Jupiter Island. No one was injured.
“I looked down at my phone, and all of a sudden — boom,” Woods told an officer as he knelt on a lawn, prior to his arrest.
Body camera footage shows Martin County Sheriff’s Deputy Tatiana Levenar then conducting a roadside sobriety test and telling Woods: “I do believe your normal faculties are impaired, and you’re under an unknown substance, so at this time you’re under arrest for DUI."
“I’m being arrested?” Woods responded.
“Yes, sir,” Levenar said.
After handcuffing Woods, authorities searched his pockets and found two white pills.
“That’s a Norco,” Woods said after an officer pulled out the pills, referring to a painkiller that contains acetaminophen and the opioid hydrocodone. Authorities would later confirm that Woods was in possession of hydrocodone.
In the body camera footage, Woods told Levenar that he had not drunk any alcohol and that he had taken “a few” medications earlier in the day, though Woods’ words are muted in the released video as he describes some of the drugs.
At the sheriff’s office complex, after Woods was escorted into the “DUI room” where drivers are tested for being under the influence, Woods said, “I’m not drunk. I’m on a prescription medication,” according to a supplemental sheriff’s office report released Thursday.
Woods, 50, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to suspicion of driving under the influence. He posted a statement Tuesday night saying that he was stepping away indefinitely “to seek treatment and focus on my health.”
During the field sobriety test, deputies noticed Woods limping and that he had a compression sock over his right knee. Woods explained he had undergone seven back surgeries and over 20 surgeries on his right leg, and that his ankle seizes up while walking.
Woods, who was hiccupping during questioning, continuously moved his head during one of the sobriety tests and deputies had to tell him several times to keep his head straight, according to an arrest report.
“Based on my observations of Woods, how he performed the exercises and based on my training, knowledge, and experience, I believed that Woods normal faculties were impaired, and he was unable to safely operate the motor vehicle,” Levenar wrote.
Woods is the most influential figure in golf and has become as recognizable as any athlete in the world. The first person of Black heritage to win the Masters in 1997, he has captivated golf fans with records likely never to be broken.
His injuries have kept him from accomplishing more, including from a 2021 Los Angeles car crash that damaged his right leg so badly he said doctors considered amputation. He has not played an official event since the 2024 British Open. He was recovering from a seventh back surgery in October and was trying to return at the Masters, where he is a five-time champion.
Following last week's crash, Woods agreed to a Breathalyzer test that showed no signs of alcohol, but he refused a urine test, authorities said. He was arrested and released on bail eight hours later.
Under a change to Florida law last year, refusing an officer’s request to take a breath, blood or urine test became a misdemeanor, even for a first offense.
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Associated Press writer Mike Schneider in Orlando, Florida, contributed to this report.
In this image from video provided by the Martin County, Fla., Sheriff's Office, golfer Tiger Woods is strapped into a police vehicle following a car crash in Jupiter Island, Fla., Friday, March 27, 2026. (Martin County Sheriff's Office via AP)
In this image from police body camera video released by the Martin County, Fla., Sheriff's Office, golfer Tiger Woods performs a field sobriety test for sheriff's deputies following a car crash in Jupiter Island, Fla., Friday, March 27, 2026. (Martin County Sheriff's Office via AP)
In this image from police body camera video released by the Martin County, Fla., Sheriff's Office, golfer Tiger Woods is taken into custody by sheriff's deputies following a car crash in Jupiter Island, Fla., Friday, March 27, 2026. (Martin County Sheriff's Office via AP)
In this image from video provided by the Martin County, Fla., Sheriff's Office, golfer Tiger Woods is strapped into a police vehicle following a car crash in Jupiter Island, Fla., Friday, March 27, 2026. (Martin County Sheriff's Office via AP)
In this image taken from police body camera video released by the Martin County, Fla., Sheriff's Office, golfer Tiger Woods performs a field sobriety test for sheriff's deputies following a car crash in Jupiter Island, Fla., Friday, March 27, 2026. (Martin County Sheriff's Office via AP)
Golfer Tiger Woods stands by his overturned vehicle in Jupiter Island, Fla., on Friday, March 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Jason Oteri)
In this image taken from police body camera video released by the Martin County, Fla., Sheriff's Office, golfer Tiger Woods speaks with sheriff's deputies following a car crash in Jupiter Island, Fla., Friday, March 27, 2026. (Martin County Sheriff's Office via AP)
In this image taken from police body camera video released by the Martin County, Fla., Sheriff's Office, sheriff's deputies holds two pills from a search of golfer Tiger Woods' pants following a car crash in Jupiter Island, Fla., Friday, March 27, 2026. (Martin County Sheriff's Department via AP)
In this image taken from police body camera video released by the Martin County, Fla., Sheriff's Office, golfer Tiger Woods is taken into custody by sheriff's deputies following a car crash in Jupiter Island, Fla., Friday, March 27, 2026. (Martin County Sheriff's Office via AP)
In this image taken from police body camera video released by the Martin County, Fla., Sheriff's Office, golfer Tiger Woods performs a field sobriety test for sheriff's deputies following a car crash in Jupiter Island, Fla., Friday, March 27, 2026. (Martin County Sheriff's Office via AP)
The Martin County Sheriff's Office welcome sign is displayed outside Friday, March 27, 2026 (AP Photo/Jim Rassol)
This handout photo provided by the Martin County Sheriff's Office shows Tiger Woods, in Stuart, Fla., Friday, March 27, 2026. (Martin County Sheriff's Office via AP)
Tiger Woods leaves the Martin County Sheriff's Office jail facility following his involvement in a car crash where he was arrested on a DUI charge on Friday, March 27, 2026 (AP Photo/Jim Rassol)
FILE- Golfer Tiger Woods stands by his overturned vehicle in Jupiter Island, Fla., March 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Jason Oteri, File)
