Phil Mickelson flew to Georgia to see a doctor about lower back pain that forced him to withdraw from the Farmers Insurance Open after two rounds last week, and hopes to defend his title at the Waste Management Phoenix Open beginning Thursday.
Mickelson went to Dalton, Ga., to see specialist Tom Boers, whose diagnosis was that the facet joints had locked up, according to a press release issued by Mickelson’s management company.
“Tom restored my mobility, but I still have inflammation that will take a week or two to subside,” said Mickelson, who planned to fly to Arizona on Wednesday in hopes of playing the event at TPC Scottsdale.
Mickelson said he would sit out if it were almost any other tournament, but he attended Arizona State and once lived in the Scottsdale area, where he has many friends and fans.
Lefty planned a light practice session on Wednesday and would consider playing in the tournament if all goes well.
“I’m itching to play, but I have to look at the big picture,” Mickelson said. “I have a number of tournaments I want to play and play well this year, including the majors, so I have to be realistic about how I feel in the short term.”
Mickelson, who has won 19 times in Arizona and his native California, also is committed to play next week in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, which he has won four times, the last in 2012.
