After the conclusion of 14 successful events, LIV Golf prepares for the ultimate reshuffle of the teams for the 2025 season. A few will be relegated while others may wear a different jersey from 2025 onwards. The LIV Golf exchange window will start soon, but not every team will see a change. Cameron Smith, the Ripper GC captain, had announced, after winning the team championship in Dallas, that he would move forward with the same team. After all, they all won the season-ending event together and attained much success in 2024, so the Aussie pro probably decided to keep it the same. But not everyone had as great of a performance as Ripper GC.
For example, Phil Mickelson’s HyFlyers GC didn’t win any event this season and at only one event in Adelaide, they finished T3. So will Lefty change it up? And will the 2024 debutant, Andy Ogletree, swap to a different team? Jerry Foltz asked Ogletree this question as he co-hosted the latest episode of the Fairway to Heaven podcast with Su Ann Heng. The 26-year-old pro smiled and excitedly said, “Yeah, I’m a HyFlyer next year. I’m under contract for next season.”
He further added that he couldn’t wait to represent his team again next year and probably win an event or two. Surprisingly, Mickelson’s team has not been victorious on the breakaway circuit since it was started in the 2022 season. After the relegation of James Piot in the 2023 season, Ogletree was picked by Lefty as he was the Asian Tour’s International Series winner and since then, the 26-year-old pro has tried to make himself an ace for the team.
Most of the time, Ogletree had succeeded, but it was not enough to pull his team from the bottom of the leaderboard and contend for a team title. However, despite the poor results, Mickelson did not take it out on his team and rather strengthened his relationship with the young pro.
Andy Ogletree reveals his relationship with Phil Mickelson
Although it rarely makes it to the headlines, Phil Mickelson has been a mentor for many in the golf world. Aside from being a legendary golfer, the 45-time PGA Tour winner was a guide for Jon Rahm when he started his professional journey and he was also a help to Akshay Bhatia as the latter once regarded him as his big brother. So, it is not a surprise that only after a year of meeting and playing with Ogletree, Lefty has taken him under his wings.
He always speaks highly of the 3-time Asian Tour winner and has been a great supporter of him. At the podcast, Ogletree was asked how he felt about it, the 26-year-old pro was in turn grateful for Mickelson’suppport as he said that it was nice the 6-time major winner did those things. Furthermore, Ogletree revealed that they do converse a lot and said, “We talk about a lot of stuff. Not just golf, but he has been such a great mentor to me.”
Ogletree also expressed that Mickelson says everything with so much conviction and confidence that it is easier to believe what he says, whether it be about the team winning or doing well or about anything else, Ogletree relayed that seeing him confident has a domino effect on himself and the team as they too start thinking optimistically. Although Ogletree and Mickelson are confirmed for the 2025 season, the fate of Cameron Tringale and Branden Steele is still not revealed, Mickelson may or may not move forward with the same team and shake it up a little for better results.
