Phil Mickelson has solution for LIV Golf’s Official World Golf Rankings problem

LIV Golf’s Phil Mickelson shared his solution for the league’s current Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) problem ahead of the LIV Golf Singapore event on Wednesday.

Lara Kuipers

26 Apr 2023

Phil Mickelson shared his solution for LIV Golf’s current OWGR problem in relation to the majors with reporters Wednesday ahead of the LIV Golf Singapore event this week.

Mickelson, 52, has been a member of Greg Norman’s LIV Golf league since its inaugural event last June. He’s currently ranked 39th in the league and captain’s the Hy Flyers GC.

He, along with the rest of the league, are on Sentosa Island this week for the LIV Golf Singapore event. It’s the fifth tournament of their 2023 season.

Ahead of the event, which begins Friday, Mickelson was asked to share his thoughts on LIV Golf’s current OWGR situation.

As it currently stands, LIV Golf does not distribute any OWGR points for its tournaments, causing players to drop down the standings.

The further they drop down in the standings, the more difficult it becomes for players to qualify for the major championships.

LIV Golf has put in a request to have OWGR points, but a decision on their application is yet to be made.

Recent LIV Golf recruit, Thomas Pieters, told reporters ahead of The Masters earlier this month that he had brought his parents to Augusta this year in the fear that it may be his last because of the situation.

Mickelson, however, does not share the same pending issue as many of his fellow LIV Golf players since the six-time major champion has won at three of the four majors.

But he did still have a solution for the current problem facing the league:

He told reporters Wednesday:

“Yeah, it's going to all iron itself out because if you're one of the majors, if you're the Masters, you're not looking at we should keep these guys out. You're saying to yourself, we want to have the best field, we want to have the best players, and these guys added a lot to the tournament this year at the Masters. How do we get them included.

“We have to come up with a qualifying mechanism that is inclusive, and if the World Golf Ranking isn't going to be inclusive, then they have to find another way. Maybe they take the top five or top 10 or winners of LIV, but they're going to have to find a way to get the best LIV players in their field if they want to have the best field in golf and be really what major championship is about. So they're already looking at that.”

He added:

“If the World Golf Rankings doesn't find a way to be inclusive, then the majors will just find another way to include LIV because it's no longer a credible way. So it will all iron itself out for the simple reason that it's in the best interest of everybody, especially the tournaments, the majors, to have the best players.”

At The Masters a few weeks ago, Mickelson had an incredible final-round 7-under 65 to jump into a tie for second with fellow LIV Golf star, Brooks Koepka. They finished four strokes back of winner Jon Rahm.

The next major championship on the schedule is the PGA Championship in mid-May.

Mickelson is one of the tournament’s most recent winners after he topped the leaderboard at the 2021 PGA Championship. At the age of 50, he became the oldest major winner in the history of men’s golf.

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