LIV Golf star Phil Mickelson has hinted that he has already started planning for life after retiring from playing, as the 54-year-old mulls stepping aside amid poor form.
The six-time major winner has just one top-20 finish on the LIV Golf circuit this season – but made the cut at two of the four majors in 2024. Mickelson, who was the first big name to jump ship from the PGA Tour to the Saudi rebels in 2022 when he signed a reported $200 million contract, says he is ready to step aside once he feels he can no longer compete at a level acceptable to him.
“I see glimpses and my teammates see glimpses of me being where I expect to be able to compete at this level, but I’m also realistic with myself, and if I’m not able to I’ll step aside and let somebody come on in and take the HyFlyers to new levels,” Mickelson, captain of the HyFlyers team, said.
“I’m in every major on the regular tour next year, and I’ll be in three of the four majors for the next six, seven years. I would love to compete and give myself a chance to win in those, and I also want to build this out and create a culture that is sustainable and that people strive to be a part of.
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“How I do that, whether it’s internally as a player and so forth, or whether it’s strictly from the outside, I’m going to be intricately involved with the HyFlyers going forward probably the rest of my life, and then my playing career I’ll be realistic where I’m at, too.”
This isn’t the first time Mickelson has discussed retiring from playing on the LIV tour, as he stated back in March: “I’m 53 now and my career, you know, if I’m being truthful it’s toward its end. Now, I would like to help others find the same enjoyment and fulfilment that the game of golf has provided me.”
Mickelson is eligible to play in the Masters and PGA Championship for life, and will be able to compete at the The Open until the 2031 tournament, when he’ll be 61 years-old. However, his eligibility for the US Open will expire after next year’s tournament.
Mickelson says he’ll step aside if someone can take ‘HyFlyers to new levels’ (Image:Getty)
As a result, the iconic leftie knows he doesn’t have much time left at the top level of the sport. Should he decide to retire from playing, he will continue to be a part-owner of the HighFlyers team, and will likely take up a backroom position within the team or, quite possibly, with LIV.
Merger talks between the PGA Tour, LIV Golf and the European Tour continue to take place. Mickelson says he’s not privy to those discussions or the potential framework of the scheduling once a deal is struck.
“I’m not part of those conversations. At 54, my schedule and my desires are going to be totally different than most of the players,” Mickelson said. “So bigger picture we have to do what’s best for the players on LIV and the best for the players throughout the game of golf and not just focus on a 54-year-old, so my desires aren’t really relevant, I would say, in that conversation.”
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Mickelson left the PGA Tour amid decades of frustration. He says he went all in to try and help the Tour thrive.
“For 30-plus years I did everything I could to help build the PGA Tour brand, and I would be brought in to help close the deal with many CEOs when they were on the brink of potentially signing a deal, whether it was Bob Diamond at Barclays, it was Rick Waddell at Northern Trust, it was the guys at Shell, Marvin Odom,” he said.
“There were about seven to 10 times that I would come in and try to close the deal. That was my way to help trying to build the PGA Tour at that time. I’m no longer part of the Tour.”
