Phil Mickelson: Golf in “disruption phase;” LIV Golf will force PGA Tour to go global

Ahead of LIV Golf’s event in Miami this week, Phil Mickelson touched on the current state of affairs in professional golf.

Earlier this year, PGA Tour star Rory McIlroy called for a unified, global tour. He envisions a circuit where the top 80 players play alongside each other around the world.

McIlroy echoed that sentiment earlier this week, noting that golf’s current state of affairs is unsustainable.

LIV Golf’s Phil Mickelson agreed while adding that golf is currently in a “disruption phase.”

“We are in a transitional state where we now have competition, and that’s leading to a lot of disruption and change, but also, the end product is going to make golf more global where the best players travel more,” Mickelson said ahead of this week’s LIV Golf event at Trump National Doral.

“But right now, we are in the disruption phase, so we are in the middle of the process, and when it’s all said and done, it’s going to be a lot brighter. But while we go through it, it’s challenging. But we’ll get there.”

For the past two years, the rise of LIV Golf has divided professional golf, separating the best players in the world on competing circuits. This divide came to an apex when the Saudi-backed circuit paid Jon Rahm north of $400 million in December to join LIV.

“I think I agree with that statement. Every time I get asked a question like this, I say the same thing,” Rahm added, sitting alongside Mickelson.

Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

“I think there’s room for both. It’s as simple as that. I think we have the opportunity to end up with an even better product for the spectators and fans of the game. A little bit more variety doesn’t really hurt anybody. Properly done, we can end up with a much better product that can take golf to the next level worldwide, and I’m hoping that’s what ends up happening.”

How professional golf will look in the future remains to be seen.

So many variables needed to be sorted out, such as LIV golfers returning to the PGA Tour, player equity for tour players, and the shape of a new global schedule, among other things.

It also seems as if we are still far away from this reality.

Only three weeks ago, PGA Tour policy board members met with Yasir al-Rumayyan, the governor of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF)—LIV Golf’s beneficiary—in the Bahamas for an “introductory” meeting. Reports indicate that this gathering was an “ice breaker” of sorts, as substantial negotiations about the future of professional golf were not had.

Still, Mickelson trusts al-Rumayyan to navigate these choppy waters safely to shore.

“I don’t know how it’s going to end out, exactly, or what it’s going to look like,” Mickelson said.

“I’m putting my trust in [al-Rumayyan] and where the game is headed globally. But at some point, when it gets ironed out, I think it’s going to be in a much better place where we bring the best players from the world. It’s going to open up more opportunities for manufacturing, course design, and for players in different parts of the world to be inspired and enter the game.”

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.