Padraig Harrington: Phil Mickelson should be defending US PGA title

Padraig Harrington feels it is a concern for golf that Phil Mickelson will not defend his title at this week's US PGA Championship.

The six-time major winner's decision to pull out of the tournament at Southern Hills was confirmed by organisers last Friday.

It comes as the American has been taking a break from golf since the fallout from his explosive comments about the PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series breakaway which is spearheaded by Greg Norman, who was last week criticised for comments made at a press event in which he described the murder of Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi as a "mistake".

Amnesty International branding the remarks as "wrong and seriously misguided" amid scrutiny over Saudi Arabia's human rights record.

An author of an upcoming unauthorised biography on Mickelson recently released excerpts from the book in which the golfer called the Saudis "scary" but said he was willing to look past their human rights records to gain leverage with the PGA Tour. He subsequently apologised for the comments.

US intelligence agencies concluded last year that Saudi crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman - the Saudi Arabian government's Public Investment Fund chairman - approved Khashoggi's murder in the country's embassy in Istanbul in 2018.

Speaking to RTÉ Sport's Greg Allen ahead of this week's second major of the year, three-time major winner Harrington shared his thoughts on Mickelson's absence as well as his view on the potential impact of a breakaway.

When asked if Mickelson's decision not to participate at this week's major is very concerning, Harrington replied, "It is".

The Dubliner continued: "I think he should be here to defend regardless of his position and what he's done.

"He's got to