Phil Mickelson has no plans to leave LIV Golf (Image: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
Phil Mickelson has struggled badly this season on the LIV Golf tour, with the six-time major winner dropping down to 43rd in the breakaway league’s standings
Six-time major winner Phil Mickelson anticipates sticking with the LIV Golf tour for the foreseeable.
That’s despite faltering performances this season and rumors concerning his imminent departure from professional golf, Mickelson remains committed to the league.
Even though his displays have been less than stellar lately – with the American 43rd in LIV Golf’s standings – Mickelson made a remarkable comeback at the 2023 Masters, clinching second place. But this was his highest-ranking finish in nearly three decades.
However, his subsequent struggles on the breakaway circuit and high-profile departure from the PGA Tour to join the Saudi-backed league have attracted substantial criticism.
In an interview on the Fairway to Heaven podcast, Mickelson expressed his determination to remain in the league despite these challenges. He said:”I knew the first two years were going to be rough – and here we are, two years in now, and it’s totally different. We’re having a blast here. We’re having so much fun.”
Phil Mickelson currently captains the HyFlyers team in LIV Golf, which sadly ranks second-to-last out of 13 teams. Regardless, the 54-year-old veteran golfer expresses no regrets about how things unfolded and embraces the idea of linking his legacy to his transition to the LIV Golf tour.
When asked about his legacy with LIV, he responded: “I sure hope so, because it wasn’t an option — like elevated events and equity in the tour wasn’t an option for the guys that came to LIV.
“And so the fact that we are invested and involved and integrated into the success of LIV — and I’m happy for the guys on the Tour that they now have all that stuff because they should. But where we’re at, we’re attracting a different crowd. And we’re attracting a global crowd.
“And that’s critical to the long-term success of the game. And it’s something that the old model of the Tour would never transcend into because you couldn’t get all the guys to go travel the world and play over there and again attract players that don’t play the game of golf to want to watch. I think LIV Golf is doing that and I’m hopeful that my connection with LIV and hopeful the success of LIV will be what I’m known for.”
