Lefty is not planning to end the 2026 season without playing a major like his old rival. Phil Mickelson skipped the 2026 Masters Tournament and the PGA Championship earlier this year. He is not eligible to play in the U.S. Open, as his exemption from the 2021 Kiawah Island triumph has run out. So the Open Championship was his last shot at playing a major for the season. And it looks like Mickelson intends to tee off at Royal Birkdale.

Bob Harig of Sports Illustrated confirmed that Mickelson has submitted his entry to be eligible to play in The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale from July 16 to 19, 2026. The 55-year-old is qualified to play in the event as a past champion (won in 2013), aged 60 or under on 19 July 2026. Whether Mickelson will be able to tee off or not is still uncertain. He has played in only one event this season at LIV Golf South Africa and finished at T48. Mickelson is absent due to an undisclosed family health issue.

If Phil Mickelson can’t play the Open Championship in 2026, it would have been the first time since 1990 that he would have missed all four majors in a calendar year. Nevertheless, this surely comes as positive news for the golf community, given that Tiger Woods has not submitted his entry to play in the major. He certainly is not playing the U.S. Open as well. So he is due to miss all the majors for the second year in a row.

While Mickelson might not be able to fill the void Woods will leave, he will still bring some exciting short game at Royal Birkdale. The links course is known for its challenging sand traps, which will be the perfect setup for Lefty’s amazing skills with the wedge. He has played in the Open Championship at Birkdale four times in his career.

In his first-ever attempt at the major in 1991, he finished at T73. In 1998, Mickelson got a 79th-place finish. 2008 was his best finish in the major at the venue, a T19. The last time he played at Royal Birkdale was in 2017 for Jordan Spieth‘s win. However, Lefty didn’t stick around until Sunday for that, as he had already missed the cut then.

Mickelson has lifted the Claret Jug once in his career in 2013. He has three further top-three finishes. However, his runner-up at the 2016 Open has been his last top-ten in the oldest major. Since 2019, he has made the cut only twice: a T60 in 2024 and a T56 in 2025. But now the bigger questin is this: will Phil Mickelson get the opportunity to prepare for The Open Championship 2026, considering the number of events he has missed already?

Phil Mickelson’s absence from the field in 2026 might cost him in The Open Championship

Mickelson has been mostly absent from action for nearly the entire year. And he has not provided a clear response as to why he has been absent. The only thing he has mentioned is that he has had a family emergency that he has to attend to.

Fans hoped that he would be back for good when he announced his return for LIV Golf South Africa. He had only missed four events till then and had a huge chunk of the season to play still. However, it ended up being the last tournament he played before disappearing again.

Mickelson shot 4-over through 72 holes, with his best round coming on Saturday when he fired a 7-under 64. He didn’t make any bogeys and carded a staggering seven birdies. In the final round, however, the six-time major winner made two bogeys and two birdies to finish even-par for the day.

LIV Golf has hosted seven events so far, and Mickelson has only appeared in one of them. Interestingly, Mickelson hasn’t been completely out of touch with golf. He keeps following majors even though he isn’t inside the ropes. After Rory McIlroy’s second Masters win, Lefty congratulated the Ulsterman on social media.

“@TheMasters [The Masters] has turned into such an exciting weekend of golf. As much as I miss being there, watching it is every bit as enjoyable. Congrats to @McIlroyRory [Rory McIlroy] for an exciting @TheMasters win. Back to back is simply remarkable.”

Clearly, Phil Mickelson misses playing in the majors and competing against the best. But as has been the case with Mickelson throughout his career, family has always come first. So unless his urgent family health matter is resolved, it’s unlikely to catch the oldest major winner swinging his club at Royal Birkdale.