LIV Golf, PGA Golf merger, Phil Mickelson, players moving to Liv, competitions, DP World Tour, news, highlights, videos

Six-time major winner Phil Mickelson said Wednesday that more PGA Tour players would move to Saudi-backed LIV Golf despite a framework agreement for a merger by the end of 2023.

The 53-year-old American left-hander, among the first to move from the PGA to the newcomer tour last year, spoke Wednesday ahead of Friday’s start of the season-ending LIV Golf Team Championship at Doral.

“I’ve fielded calls, as we all have, from free agents, PGA Tour players, to DP World Tour players who want to come,” Mickelson said.

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Asked if he expected an “exodus” of talent from the PGA and DP World tours, Mickelson was confident of more movement.

“Do I think that? No, I know it’s going to happen,” Mickelson said. “When players watch LIV, they want to be a part of it.

“Everyone here is happy and enjoying what we do, enjoying the team aspect, having fun with each other, the camaraderie and enjoying playing golf on a global scale and all the benefits that come with that. tour.

“So there are a lot of players who see that and want to be a part of it. The question is how many places are available. There are many more players who want to come than there are places. » Merger negotiations have continued between the three tours since a framework agreement was announced in June, but the deadline is December 31 for a deal to be finalized.

A PGA Tour steering committee made up of a majority of players, including Tiger Woods, must approve any merger deal.

“I think the merger negotiations allow for it,” Mickelson said of players moving to LIV. “I think it kind of allows and opens the door for that.” A door slammed on LIV Golf last week was that of the Board of Trustees of the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR), which rejected LIV Golf’s appeal for ranking points to be awarded for its events , citing issues with LIV’s limited player turnover and team format issues impacting individual play. .

LIV players have been banned from PGA Tour events, limiting their ability to earn ranking points.

Mickelson, however, says there is more than meets the eye to this rejection. “I want to shine a light on why exactly they do what they do. That’s not what they publish,” Mickelson said.

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“There’s a lot more going on behind the scenes as to how important it is for us to get points (to match) the PGA Tour.” American Brooks Koepka, winner of this year’s PGA Championship, and Australian Cameron Smith, last year’s British Open champion, are the only LIV players still among the top 50 in the world rankings, a key threshold for entry at major tournaments.

Mickelson said majors need to ensure other top LIV players have a path to their events.

“I think the majors need to protect their products, and there are probably other ways to do that by creating slots,” Mickelson said.

“If they want to make sure they have the best golf courses, they could create vehicles for LIV players to play in major tournaments where they don’t have to use OWGR, which would hurt the contract television and PGA Tour revenues. if they gave points to LIV. Koepka said LIV has a lot of talent that deserves a chance to play in the majors. “I think it’s hard to argue that some of These guys here are not the best players in the world,” Koepka said. “These guys deserve to be in the majors after being in the majors.

“I hope there’s a pathway for them to at least get into the majors because I think there’s quite a few guys here that deserve to be there.”