The HyFlyers GC will be without captain Phil Mickelson to start the 2026 LIV Golf season.
The six-time major champion announced Sunday he will not participate in the Saudi-backed circuit’s opening tournaments in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Adelaide, Australia, citing a “family health matter.”
“I will not be able to participate in the first two LIV Events as [wife] Amy and I need to be present for a family health matter,” Mickelson, 55, wrote in a message shared across his social media pages.
“I can’t wait to compete again and look forward to rejoining my teammates as soon as possible. In the meantime, Ollie Schniederjans will step in for me in Riyadh as I root on HyFlyers GC from afar.”
The 32-year-old Schniederjans previously subbed in for Mickelson at last year’s LIV Golf opener in Saudi Arabia as a reserve player. Mickelson was dealing with a shoulder injury at the time.
The HyFlyers roster is comprised of Mickelson, Michael La Sasso, Brendan Steele and Cameron Tringale.
The opener in Riyadh gets underway on Wednesday, while the tournament in Adelaide begins Feb. 12.
LIV Golf will then jet to Hong Kong in early March.
This year marks Mickelson’s fifth season on the LIV circuit.
He was one of the biggest names in golf to defect from the PGA Tour in 2022, along with Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka.
Koepka, a five-time major winner, split from LIV Golf at the end of last year and has since rejoined the PGA Tour as part of its Returning Members Program. He is required to make a $5 million charitable donation and is unable to receive potential equity in the Player Equity Program for five years.
The 35-year-old Koepka made his anticipated PGA Tour return this week at the Farmers Insurance Open and made the cut into the weekend.
Former Masters champion Patrick Reed followed in Koepka’s footsteps days earlier by announcing his intentions to return to the PGA Tour.
