Rory McIlroy has softened his stance on Phil Mickelson and his desire to join a breakaway league with the Northern Irishman claiming this should be a week of celebration for ‘Lefty’ after his historic achievement of becoming the oldest man to win a Major Championship at last year’s PGA Championship.
In February McIlroy was tough on Mickelson in the aftermath of the first reported comments about the proposed breakaway league saying “I thought they were naive, selfish, egotistical, ignorant.’’
Mickelson hasn’t played since February after apologising for the comments and withdrew from defending his PGA Championship title this week.
“It’s unfortunate; sad. This should be a celebration, right?” said McIlroy. “He won a Major Championship at 50 years old. It was possibly his last, big moment in the game of golf. I think he should be here this week and celebrating what a monumental achievement he achieved last year.
“He has made decisions and has had to live with certain consequences of that. People can say there were some actions, but for the most part they were words and I think people can be forgiven for words.
“I came out a little strongly against him right at the start, but my stance has definitely softened over the past few weeks. Phil Mickelson has been a legend of our game for the last 30 years and I certainly don’t think he should be shut out of the game.
“I think whenever he comes back, he should be maybe just a little more gracious. He said some bad things and offended some people, but I don’t think that makes it right to completely shut him out of the game of golf.
