Rory McIlroy opens up about Phil Mickelson's absence at PGA Championship

The big storylines ahead of this year's PGA Championship are as much about who isn't playing in the tournament as much as they are about who will hit the links starting on Thursday. While you'd think the main focus would be on Tiger Woods making his first appearance since the Masters in April, a lot of focus is on last year's winner, Phil Mickelson.

Mickelson withdrew from the competition last week, shortly after having his request to participate in the Saudi Arabia-funded LIV Golf Invitational denied. Although Lefty's alignment with the Saudi-backed breakaway league has made him something of a pariah, many of golf's biggest names admitted this week that it is unfortunate he isn't playing at Southern Hills this week.

That includes Rory McIlroy, who has spoken strongly against the LIV Golf league and criticized Mickelson for supporting it.

"It's unfortunate," McIlroy told the press on Tuesday. "It's sad. Yeah, I don't know what else I can say."

The Irishman opened up a bit more when speaking to Sky Sports News, saying he hopes Mickelson can return to the Tour at some point.

"He's made decisions and he's had to live with certain consequences of that," McIlroy said, adding: "Phil Mickelson has been a legend of our game for the last 30 years. I certainly don't he should be shut out of the game, [but] I think whenever he comes back he should be a little more gracious."