Brendan Steele has said that he didn’t take much convincing to ditch the PGA Tour to play under the LIV Golf banner. The 41 year old golfer, who turned pro on the PGA circuit back in 2011, sealed only three wins before deciding to join the LIV tour last February.

He became part of Phil Mickelson’s HyFlyers GC, entering a roster of ex-PGA players who have swapped sides to the controversial Saudi-funded league, among them Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm, Lee Westwood, and Dustin Johnson.

Many avid supporters of traditional golf have vocalised their criticism of the new league since its emergence, yet it continues to snap up top-tier talents from under the PGA Tour’s nose. According to Steele, it didn’t take many reasons to convince him; in fact, a straightforward conversation with Mickelson helped.

Speaking on the Fairway To Heaven podcast with hosts Jerry Foltz and Su-Ann Heng, when quizzed about the critical factor that swayed him to switch allegiances, Steele, now a fixture of the HyFlyers team, disclosed: “So if I was ever going to come, it was always going to be with Phil and with Cameron [Tringale] – because Cameron has been a close friend of mine for a long time too.

“So we had been playing some golf together – the three of us – and Cameron had asked me, ‘would you ever come? ‘ And I’m like, ‘if I was going to, it would be with you guys, so if there was ever an opportunity, I’d love to know about it’.”, reports the Mirror.

“And Phil called and he just said, ‘look, I wanted to run something by you before I went any different direction, I wasn’t sure if you would be interested or whatever’. We just talked it out and I thought this is too good an opportunity to pass up as far as picking Phil’s brain, travelling the world, having a team – you know, like everything that lined up was like this is a perfect opportunity, I can’t pass on it.”

“And then there’s still nerves and things you know, because I don’t know what it’s like out there. I haven’t played a LIV event, I haven’t seen one – so I get to Mayakoba last year and I’m pretty nervous, and I’m pretty worried about what it’s all going to be like and everything, and I got comfortable really fast.”

Despite its criticisms from PGA Tour purists, Steele also went on to say that the LIV set-up was incredibly welcoming and everything he could have hoped for. He added: “And everything was way better than I could have hoped for, more enjoyable, and friendlier, and everybody that I saw was just so welcoming and there were a bunch of people – other than players – that I already knew out there.”

He remarked: “So many familiar faces and it was really easy to settle in. The opportunity to pay with Phil is too good to pass on, and Cameron being one of my best friends it was an easy choice.”

Mickelson, a formidable player when at his best, was among the first to leave the PGA Tour for LIV Golf, having joined the new series in 2022 with a history of 45 PGA Tour victories and six majors. This year saw Steele celebrate victory in LIV Golf, where he triumphed over Louis Oosthuizen by just one stroke during the LIV Golf Adelaide event this April.