Between LIV Golf Bedminster and LIV Golf Boston, the PGA Tour underwent a dramatic facelift following a meeting between top players, including Tiger Woods.
As the Tour figures out how best to coexist with the breakout LIV Golf, it is adding elevated events with more prize money next year, and a team-based golf league, along with a myriad of other changes.
LIV Golf players have frequently neglected to talk about their pay from the Saudi-backed league, instead pointing to growing the game and that sort of rhetoric. The changes from the PGA Tour, therefore — particularly as it continues to lose some of its top players — certainly seem like a response to LIV’s player-friendly initiatives.
In the middle of this conversation? One of the earliest defectors, Phil Mickelson, who has been one of the most outspoken proponents of LIV Golf. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Lefty was quick to pat himself and LIV Golf on the back for the changes, while maintaining a carefully curated air of humility.
MORE: Who is playing LIV Golf? Updated list of PGA Tour defectors
“Well, they are getting a lot for it,” Mickelson said when he was asked about the Tour requiring top-20 players to play in certain events. “So I’m extremely happy that the top players are being listened to and that their input is being valued. And that those events are coming about.’’
Mickelson also said current PGA Tour members should be appreciative of their LIV Golf counterparts.
“It was stated very clearly that nothing was going to happen,” Mickelson said of the PGA Tour’s initial reticence to make changes. “Unless there was leverage, nothing was going to change. And all players should be appreciative of what LIV is doing. The players on LIV for the opportunity they are getting. And the PGA Tour for the leverage that was provided to get these changes done.’’
Mickelson added he has heard thank-yous from both LIV Golf and PGA Tour members in the wake of those changes.
MORE: PGA Tour changes, explained: What to know about moves
When asked if he felt his legacy was being impacted, Mickelson told Sports Illustrated it’s not set in stone.
“I feel that my legacy is being built right now,” he said. “The changes that professional golf are going through I believe are in the best interest for the fans and the players. I feel that it’s being built right now.”
Amidst all of this hand-holding, Mickelson and several other LIV Golf members are suing the PGA Tour for anti-trust violations. Carlos Ortiz, Abraham Ancer, Pat Perez, and Jason Kokrak have withdrawn from the suit, leaving Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, Ian Poulter, Peter Uihlein, Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford, and Matt Jones. The latter three sought a restraining order to compete in the FedEx Cup Playoffs, which they were denied.
Mickelson, for his part, said in the interview with SI he anticipates playing in the Masters in 2023 after missing it this year. In fact, he doesn’t expect to miss any majors.
“I really don’t think that’s going to happen,” he said majors keeping LIV players out of tournaments. “I believe that the leaders of the majors are really brilliant people who love the game of golf. And I believe they understand how not having many of the top players in the world undermines their events. And how that would hurt the game of golf.’’
Only time will tell if the PGA Tour’s changes make it more amenable to working with LIV Golf, rather than stoking rivalry fires. But as long as LIV Golf keeps poaching Tour members for astronomical sums of money, it’s hard to imagine both leagues being completely friendly with each other any time soon.
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