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It would be a bit of a stretch to suggest LIV Golf has emerged as an existential threat to the sport’s biggest events, but that’s exactly what Phil Mickelson did when he tweeted (and deleted) a warning to the major tournaments he seems to think are on borrowed time due to the policies that are currently in place.
It was pretty hard to ignore LIV Golf after the upstart league managed to poach Phil Mickelson from the PGA Tour when it set out on its quest to disrupt golf’s de facto competitive monopoly. With that said, Lefty had already entered the twilight of his career, so it was kind of hard to argue it was a crippling blow.
However, LIV became increasingly harder to ignore as it continued to scoop up more formidable names like Brooks Koepka, Cameron Smith, and Jon Rahm, the last of whom was sitting in the third spot in the Official World Golf Rankings when he made the leap last year.
The OWGR points system has become a big point of contention for LIV thanks to its role in determining who will automatically qualify for The U.S. Open, The British Open, and The PGA Championship (The Masters is technically invitation only, although those rankings can be a factor).
In 2023, LIV Golf abandoned its quest to be recognized by the OWGR, which has taken issue with its 54-hole format but seems to be primarily concerned with its lack of promotion and relegation. That means it’s become increasingly harder for golfers under its umbrella to qualify for majors—an issue that’s only poised to exacerbate as preexisting exemptions start to expire in the coming years.
As a result, you might think players who’ve sworn allegiance to LIV have become nervous about their future major prospects. However, Mickelson entered the spin zone while replying to a post from Flushing It that called attention to that potential problem in a now-deleted response that read:
Maybe some LIV players won’t be missed. But what if NONE of the LIV players played? Would they be missed? What about next year when more great players join? Or the following year? At some point they will care and will have to answer to sponsors and television. FAAFO
If you’re not fluent in internet acronyms, FAAFO is shorthand for “F— Around And Find Out,” so it sounds like Mickelson is pretty confident majors are going to be forced to do some soul-searching in the coming years.
It’s worth noting television ratings for The Masters in 2024 took a pretty big hit compared to the previous year, so it will be interesting to see if that pattern continues as we prepare for the trio of majors that are still left on the calendar.