LIV Golf's biggest accomplishment? Lefty's answer might rattle the top brass

Phil Mickelson reveals his biggest takeaway from LIV Golf so far. 

Ben Smith's picture
Mon, 22 May 2023
LIV Golf's biggest accomplishment? Lefty's answer might rattle the top brass

LIV Golf's biggest accomplishment, according to Phil Mickelson, might not be what the top brass at the breakaway tour will want to hear. 

Mickelson will now turn his attention to LIV Golf Washington after competing in the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill. 

The rival league received a welcome credibility boost after Brooks Koepka claimed the fifth major championship of his career. 

Mickelson was relatively quiet on the golf course and ultimately finished T-58 after posting rounds of 73, 72, 75 and 70 in Rochester. 

Related: How every LIV Golf player got on at the PGA Championship

The PGA of America didn't list Lefty for any media duties but that didn't stop him from sending a chilling warning to the PGA Tour going forward.

Mickelson emerged from his social media blackout this February and since then has been involved in some mud-slinging

He'll continue to do so, he said, because he wants to hold everyone 'accountable' as he 'knows things others don't' that will apparently come out soon. 

Our popcorn is already in the microwave. 

Mickelson went further by explaining what, in his view, was LIV Golf's biggest accomplishment.

He told the Palm Beach Post

"It's provided 48 new professional golf opportunities at the highest pay, which is incredible." 

Mickelson reportedly penned a deal worth approximately $200m. 

Surely going forward LIV want to avoid talking about the money. Those at LIV Golf are clearly trying to alter perceptions of their tour. 

After Talor Gooch won in Adelaide, the tour admitted to editing out Pat Perez's criticism of PGA Tour boss Jay Monahan.  

"We are trying to avoid that kind of hostility in our press conferences," a spokesperson for LIV previously said. 

Mickelson added: 

"We're only a year (in) and I'm thinking, three to five years out, where we'll be. But we're only a year in so to me it's just starting. In two more years, that's when we need to look back and say, 'Okay, are we where we want to be?' And it seems like we're well on that path."

The 52-year-old did concede that LIV is definitely more popular outside of the U.S., but urged people to have more of an open mind. 

He said: 

"Every tour is run by one organization. Golf had the same structure for, I don't know, a century or two, and now we're introducing it to a little bit different presentation.
"And it's appealing to a little bit younger crowd and you kind of have to be open-minded to give it a try and say, … 'even though I've done it this way for decades and decades, maybe I should be open to looking at a different way.'"

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