Phil Mickelson is often convinced that he is the smartest person in any room in which he finds himself. He believes his brain is bigger than his calves, smarter than his wit and has never held back in expressing his opinion, no matter how bad it may be.
The news that LIV Golf had been denied points by the Official World Golf Ranking only fuelled his fiery personality. On Wednesday, the 53-year old shared his thoughts about the decision ahead of the LIV Golf Team Championship 2023 at Trump National Doral.
Mickelson joined the chorus of players such as Bryson deChambeau , who are calling for majors to offer LIV exemptions. If they want the best field in golf, then they should create vehicles that allow players from LIV to participate in majors without having to use OWGR points. This would hurt the PGA Tour’s TV contract and revenue if the OWGR was used.
“But I want to make it clear why they do what they do.” Mickelson stated that the OWGR is not just what’s on the front pages. There’s a whole lot more behind the scenes in terms of the importance we have to getting points for the PGA Tour.
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Mickelson spent a great deal of time last week on social media sharing his opinions on why the OWGR denied LIV’s request. According to the Associated Press, the OWGR rejected LIV’s application because it was unable compare 48-player events, with 54 holes, and a shotgun start. The Associated Press also expressed concern about the LIV Golf’s qualifying and relegation systems.
The captain of HyFlyers, one of LIV’s most vocal supporters, wasn’t buying it.
“I am just bringing to life like facts as to why this is happening,” said Mickelson. “But in reality, we, as a team, as a League that is trying to grow and bring the game globally, and promote it throughout the world as well as bring a different format than the old, stodgy one that we have had for decades, just need to concentrate on what we’re doing and make our products as good and interesting as we can. We must make changes to our program. “The OWGR needs to make adjustments, but we also need to adjust our format so that it continues to be interesting and easy to understand.
“We don’t need to worry about what others are doing, because we have enough work on our hands already,” Mickelson said. He refused to lift the curtain and reveal what these changes might be.
“Well, I think that we have many ideas within the company and we should keep them there, because we need to not only do — we may have ideas, but we also have to determine if they’re good ideas or if they will work,” said Mickelson. This led to some smirks among his colleagues. It’s crucial that we keep improving our product and our presentation. At the beginning, this was the initial idea. We thought that we would have a team championship and an individual portion. “But all of that can be flexible and should evolve based on the fans’ wants and needs, as well television and other entities. So it becomes easier to understand and more appealing.”
LIV is planning a promotion for December that will help it with its promotion/relegation system. You shouldn’t overlook the deal that came out of nowhere with the MENA Tour. The league has shown that it is willing to take drastic measures to help its players earn world ranking points. Mickelson’s remarks hint at further steps in the future. We will wait.
