LOS ANGELES — Phil Mickelson’s 53rd birthday Friday ended in silence. At least when it comes to talking to the media.
Mickelson finished off his 74 at U.S. Open, shook hands with his playing partners and then slapped hands with as many fans as he could reach as he walked to scoring.
Knowing his 3 over for the first two rounds likely meant he would not be sticking around for the weekend, Mickelson then blew by reporters without stopping to answer questions, the majority of which would have been about the LIV Golf’s deal with the PGA Tour.
Mickelson’s only comments the entire week came to Sports Illustrated on Wednesday.
“I’ll be happy to talk later,” he said. “I just don’t want to waste any energy on it at the beginning of the week.”
That extra energy was of no help Friday.
Mickelson has followed his runner-up finish at Masters in April with a 58th at the PGA Championship and now missing cut at the U.S. Open. This is his fifth missed cut in his last nine starts in majors.
Most LIV golfers, though, fared much better than Mickelson with 10 of the 15 golfers making the 2-over cut.
LIV has two in the top 10 entering the weekend with Dustin Johnson (6 under) and Cameron Smith (4 under) leading the way. Johnson is tied for sixth, four shots behind leader Rickie Fowler. Smith is 10th.
The pre-tournament favorite among LIV golfers, Brooks Koepka, who won the PGA Championship last month, got back to even par with a 69 on Friday. Joaquin Niemann also is at 140.
Bryson DeChambeau (1 under), Patrick Reed (1 over) and Sergia Garcia (1 over) also move onto the weekend.
LIV has three golfers who made the cut on the number, Abraham Ancer, Sebastian Munoz and David Puig.
Among those whose next round will be at the LIV’s event in two weeks at Valderrama in Spain: Mickelson, Mito Pereira (3 over), Thomas Pieters (4 over), Martin Kaymer (6 over) and Carlos Ortiz (9 over).
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