Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson not scheduled to speak to the media ahead of 2023 PGA Championship

Modified May 15, 2023 18:49 GMT

PGA Championship - Final Round — Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson to skip the media

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.

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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.

Is Brooks Koepka going to win his third PGA?

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: