Phil Mickelson’s warning to Rory McIlroy backfires as LIV Golf future hangs in balance

Phil Mickelson has been struggling for form since joining LIV Golf in 2022, but the six-time major champion has regularly defended the controversial series against the likes of Rory McIlroy

Phil Mickelson’s LIV Golf playing career may be over just 18 months after warning Rory McIlroy that the breakaway series is ‘a force in the game that’s not going away’.

When LIV Golf first surfaced as a potential PGA Tour contender, Mickelson began an exodus of players and pledged allegiance to the Saudi-backed league ahead of a major in June 2022. Since then, he has won six major championships. But it looks like his playing days could be over soon. According to Mickelson biographer Alan Shipnuk, the 53-year-old’s next contract with LIV Golf will likely be as a non-playing captain. The team captains were each given a four-year contract by LIV commissioner Greg Norman, and the players will negotiate with LIV until the end of 2025. If Mickelson retires at the end of his contract, his successful but short tenure at LIV Golf will come to an end. He was a solid defender who continued his streak against players like McIlroy. The Northern Irishman has been perhaps LIV Golf’s biggest challenger, and Mickelson has been at the forefront of the talk against the PGA Tour. In October 2022, Mickelson spoke about LIV Golf’s long-term ambitions: We’ve surpassed that and today, the undying power of the games is here. It’s amazing how much LIV Golf has evolved in the last six or seven months. “I don’t think anyone can agree to that.”

Although his stance has softened since the merger talks, McIlroy has been fiercely opposed to LIV Golf in the past two years since its controversial launch, with several stars signing for staggering sums. The gap between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf widened recently as Jon Rahm became the latest celebrity to be cut in favor of a tour backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.

The transformation of Rahm’s stroke accelerated last June when LIV Golf announced a major merger with the PGA Tour, and McIlroy now looks set to join the Tour. Mickelson was right about the long-term future of LIV Golf, but it doesn’t appear to be as involved as he had hoped.

In 20 events on the LIV circuit, Mickelson has only two top 10 finishes. The six-time major champion was looking to replicate the form that made him one of the sport’s best players on the PGA Tour.

Mickelson has only one Grand Slam title in his career, and the US Open proved to be the only major that eluded him. In a February 2022 interview with Golf Digest, the American presented his retirement plans with a caveat.