With just one top-20 finish on the LIV Golf tour this season while missing the cut in two of golf’s four majors, Phil Mickleson said on Wednesday that he won’t hang on if he’s not able to compete at a high level.
Mickelson, 54, a six-time major champion, signed a reported $200 million contract with LIV in 2022 and is captain of the HyFlyers, a team in which he holds an equity stake.
“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,” Mickelson said during a call ahead of LIV’s Individual Championship Sept. 13-15 at Bolingbrook Golf Club in Bolingbrook, Ill.
“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. 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.
“How I do that, whether it’s internally as a player and so forth, or whether it’s strictly from the outside, I’m going to be intricately involved with the HyFlyers going forward probably the rest of my life, and then my playing career I’ll be realistic where I’m at, too.”
Renowned for his short game, Mickelson is working toward reviving it after recent struggles.
“You know, surprisingly if you look at the analytics, it’s been my short game that’s just crushed me the last few years,” he said. “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.”
Regarding the potential merger of the PGA Tour and the Saudi backers of LIV Golf, Mickelson said it’s not on his radar.
“I’m not part of those conversations. At 54, my schedule and my desires are going to be totally different than most of the players,” he said.
“So bigger picture, we have to do what’s best for the players on LIV and the best for the players throughout the game of golf and not just focus on a 54-year-old, so my desires aren’t really relevant, I would say, in that conversation.”
–Field Level Media
