Mickelson discusses his future, both as a player and with his HyFlyers GC
As an equity shareholder and captain of HyFlyers GC, Phil Mickelson expects to be “intricately involved” with the LIV Golf team for the rest of his life.
How much longer he’ll compete as a player will, of course, be a shorter span. For now, there is no definitive timetable on his future.
Mickelson, who turned 54 in June, has started each of LIV Golf’s first 33 tournaments, and he’ll again be in action at this week’s Greenbrier tournament before finishing up the season in Chicago and the Dallas Team Championship.
In those first 33 starts, his best individual result came earlier this season, a tie for sixth in Jeddah. That’s one of his three top-10 finishes in a LIV event; he tied for ninth last year at Bedminster and tied for eighth in 2022 in Chicago.
Finishing inside the top 24 that receive points at each regular-season event has been a challenge. He’s done it seven times, twice this season. It’s why he ranks just 44th in points going into Friday’s first round at The Old White course.
On the flip side, he remains capable of turning back the clock and flashing the kind of performance that fueled six major wins and a spot in the World Golf Hall of Fame. Last year at the Masters, he tied for second thanks to a final-round 65. And he’s just three years removed from the 2021 PGA Championship, which he won at age 50 – the oldest player to ever win a major. He won two more tournaments later that year on the Champions Tour, increasing his professional total to 57 victories across all platforms.
Last week during a virtual press conference, Mickelson was asked about the state of his game and how much longer he expects to play.
“I'm realistic with where I'm at,” he said. “I'm 54 and I'm putting in the work.
“I also have a unique opportunity because of the fact that physically I've been able to withstand injuries and been able to be in better shape to do something at an age that nobody else has done, but I have not played at that level that I need to.
“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 keeps himself in excellent condition, avoiding the crippling injuries and ailments that slow down other pro golfers in his age bracket. Thanks to his good health and continued competitive nature, he indeed puts in the work. You can often find him on the far right side of any LIV Golf range, spending significant time with his coach Andrew Getson.
While he’s averaging five less yards off the tee year-over-year, there hasn’t been an appreciable decline with most of his statistics over the course of his three LIV Golf seasons. Yet there is one area of his game that even has Mickelson perplexed, considering it has long been a difference-maker for his success.
Mickelson is currently ranked 48th in scrambling this season, and he’s losing 0.15 strokes to the field around the green. It was particularly costly at last month’s LIV Golf Andalucía, with the iconic Valderrama course putting a premium on scrambling. Of the top nine players on the final leaderboard, seven ranked inside the top 10 in scrambling, with winner Sergio Garcia the best scrambler in the field that week. Mickelson ranked 51st in the field with a 42.9% success rate, negating an otherwise solid ball-striking week in which he ranked T3 in the field in greens in regulation.
While he remains the go-to advisor for others seeking short-game help – earlier this year in Hong Kong, he gave a bunker lesson to LIV Golf’s youngest player, Caleb Surratt, a member of Legion XIII – Mickelson is having difficulty making his own short game pay off.
“Surprisingly, if you look at the analytics, it's been my short game that's just crushed me the last few years,” Mickelson said. “I've been like last in scrambling on LIV. It's been a staple of my game throughout my career, and the last couple years it's been the reason why I have not scored and had the results. That's where I've been focusing.
“If my short game is sharp, I'm going to be in contention. But I've been throwing four, five shots away a round because of short game, and that's been something I'm not used to, and it's probably why it's been harder for me to overcome, because it's different. Ball-striking wise and shot-making abilities are on par with the level needed to compete, but my short game is not. That's why I'm spending a lot of time trying to turn that around.”
Looking beyond 2024, Mickelson will be eligible to play all four majors through 2026, is set for The Open through 2030 and has lifetime exemptions for the Masters and PGA. He wants to keep his game sharp in hopes of improving on his own record for oldest major winner, and the LIV Golf environment offers him a chance to compete as a player, captain and front-office exec.
“I would love to compete and give myself a chance to win in those [majors], and I also want to build this out and create a culture that is sustainable and that people strive to be a part of,” he said.
“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.”