Phil Mickelson's first sports hernia surgery of the 2016 offseason came back at the end of October. Mickelson underwent a second sports hernia surgery recently, according to a statement from his management team Monday evening. This surgery was to repair an apparent recurrence of the original sports hernia injury.
Mickelson has undergone a 2nd sports hernia surgery, per statement. Sounds like he may be at CareerBuilder only as the tournament ambassador
— Sean Martin (@PGATOURSMartin) December 13, 2016
So now Mickelson's start to 2017 is in doubt. From the language used by his management team, it doesn't sound like Lefty plans on playing the CareerBuilder Challenge in Palm Springs which is normally his first tournament every season. He will attend as tournament ambassador.
Mickelson has been the bastion of health over the course of his 26-year career. He has played in at least 18 events every year since 1992 and has not made less than $1 million in a season since 1995. He almost never misses tournaments he wants to play in. The only major he's missed since 1994 was the 2009 Open Championship when he chose to be with his wife Amy as she started her recovery from breast cancer.
So this is a bit of a wet blanket on what should be a pretty epic PGA Tour year. At 46, Mickelson is as lively and competitive as ever and should provide a jolt to some of the younger superstars trying to collect tournament wins and major championships. Hopefully Lefty won't miss too much time.