At the same time Phil Mickelson reevaluates his role with LIV Golf, he’s identifying how he can remain “in contention” for majors.
Mickelson, 54, has struggled to stay competitive since loudly jumping from the PGA Tour to the disruptive “Golf, But Louder” league (and controversially helping the Saudi-backed enterprise launch with notoriety).
Lefty finished 34th in the individual points race in 2022, 39th in 2023, and currently sits 44th of 56. He has three top-10s in three years, and just one top-20 result (LIV Jeddah) in his past 11 events.
The HyFlyers — comprised of Mickelson, Brendan Steele, Cameron Tringale, and. Andy Ogletree — have consistently placed bottom-eight.
Mickelson, who became the oldest golfer (50) to win a major at the 2021 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island, has fared better in the majors. He snagged a backdoor runner-up at the 2023 Masters and made the cuts this year — a T43 at Augusta National, T60 at the Open Championship.
Mickelson discussed an array of topics on a recent conference call ahead of LIV Golf Chicago at Bolingbrook Golf Club (Sept. 13-15), including his future in LIV, the state of his golf, and growing the game.
Phil Mickelson on LIV future, major contention
1. Mickelson is invested in the HyFlyers, but may transition to a different role
Majority stakes in LIV teams are held by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia, but outside investors — including team members — can purchase minority ownership. Mickelson is a captain and investor in HyFlyers GC.
“My involvement with the HyFlyers is going to be long-term and probably through the rest of my life,” Mickelson said. “I’m an equity shareholder and I’ll have the ability to be intricately involved in the growing out of the team throughout the course of the next many decades.
“But as far as my career, I’m realistic with where I’m at,” he continued. “I also have a unique opportunity because of the fact that physically I’ve been able to withstand injuries and been able to be in better shape to do something at an age that nobody else has done, but I have not played at that level that I need to.
“I see glimpses and my teammates see glimpses of me being where I expect to be able to compete at this level, but I’m also realistic with myself, and if I’m not able to I’ll step aside and let somebody come on in and take the HyFlyers to new levels.”
2. Mickelson wants to help grow the game
“We’re in the middle of a disruption phase, but where we’re going to end up and where we will be when this gets sorted through is going to be exponentially better than where we were in the path that we were on,” said Mickelson, who often cites data illustrating how LIV is reaching younger audiences.
The always-camera-ready Mickelson also seems to be enjoying riding the wave of the YouTube golf explosion with original content.
“For 30 plus years, I did everything I could to help build the PGA Tour brand, and I would be brought in to help close the deal with many CEOs when they were on the brink of potentially signing a deal,” Mickelson said. “There were about seven to 10 times that I would come in and try to close the deal. That was my way to help try to build the PGA Tour at that time. I’m no longer part of the Tour.
“My focus has changed to building something different. I tried for decades internally to do it with where I was at, and I feel like this is a better way to go to achieve the things that I want to achieve in the game.”
3. Regardless, he’s playing the majors…
Like his longterm rival Tiger Woods (also generating retirement chatter), Mickelson plans to continue competing in the majors, as long as he’s eligible.
The six-time major champ has one year left on the U.S. Open exemption (thanks to Kiawah). He’s exempt from the Open through age 60 and has lifetime entry into the Masters and PGA.
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“I’m in every major on the regular tour next year, and I’ll be in three of the four majors for the next six, seven years,” said Lefty. “I would love to compete and give myself a chance to win in those, and I also want to build this out and create a culture that is sustainable and that people strive to be a part of.”
4. …And possibly contending?
The famously creative golfer believes he’s pinpointed an attackable area of improvement.
“Surprisingly, if you look at the analytics, it’s been my short game that’s just crushed me the last few years,” said Mickelson. “I’ve been like last in scrambling on LIV. It’s been a staple of my game throughout my career, and the last couple years it’s been the reason why I have not scored and had the results. That’s where I’ve been focusing.”
Mickelson rates 48th out of 56 players on LIV in scrambling.
“I finally had a nice little turnaround. If my short game is sharp, I’m going to be in contention. But I’ve been throwing four, five shots away a round because of short game, and that’s been something I’m not used to, and it’s probably why it’s been harder for me to overcome, because it’s different.
“But ball-striking wise and shot-making abilities are on par with the level needed to compete, but my short game is not. That’s why I’m spending a lot of time trying to turn that around.”
