Phil Mickelson Sees LIV Golf's Format As Solid for Now, But Able to Be Flexible
TUCSON, Ariz. — Could LIV Golf look different than it does today?
Are 54-hole shotgun starts etched in stone or are those policies written in pencil versus ink?
Phil Mickelson, a hypothetical change agent, believes that change is inevitable as LIV Golf enters its second season and first tournament in the United States in 2023.
Mickelson, with both his words and actions, helped force the PGA Tour to move in the direction of spreading the wealth with no-cut designated events as well as other programs that pay players more.
The six-time major winner has brought some of his ideas to LIV and sees change as inevitable, even just after a year, no matter how successful the introductory season was.
“Evolution, we'll just simply evolve, and when we see something that can be better, we have the fluidity to make the change and make it better," Mickelson said.
The theory espoused by Mickelson is like the mantra of Apple Inc. With a market capitalization of $2.4 trillion, it’s the largest company by valuation in the world and some of its biggest products are not original designs but ones that take a winning product and make it better.
With less than a year under its belt, LIV Golf has progressed from a non-entity to a tour of 14 events that has forced the PGA Tour to change its business model to some extent with designated events, creating top fields from top to bottom and playing for LIV Golf-type purses.
“There's a lot of specifics that we could look at and say, gosh, do we need to go to 72 holes to get World (Golf) Ranking points or what do we need to do to be the best product, but really it comes down to we provide the best product to fans, to sponsors,” Mickelson said of potential changes to the LIV model. “This is a question that LIV has been asking that I haven't been asked in the last 32 years: how can we make this the best experience for the professionals, as well, and that's what's exciting for us as players to be a part of this league.”
Mickelson has bought into the team concept and believes that because the PGA Tour is a 72-hole stroke play tour and LIV is currently a 54-hole team-concept tour, both can coexist because they are different, and LIV fills a void that the PGA Tour has not occupied.
Because LIV is newer, he says it’s not as handcuffed to make decisions quickly versus the PGA Tour with its larger infrastructure and management process.
“We have the fluidity to make changes if it's in the best interests of the players or the league or for the fans or for the sponsors,” Mickelson said. “But I don't feel that that's a pressing need right now, otherwise it would have been changed."
One change Mickelson could see as a win for LIV would be adding a match play event.
With the Tour dropping the WGC-Dell Match Play after next week at Austin Country Club, it will be the first time since 1999 that a match play event will not be on the schedule.
“It's a perfect format and opportunity to fill the Match Play void because the negative of the Match Play is that the most exciting days are earlier in the week,” Mickelson said. “There's an opportunity with the team dynamic that LIV Golf could have a match play scenario. It's certainly something that we are discussing as a possibility for the season-ending event.”