The PGA Championship is just a week away and while the majority of the field is filled with PGA Tour players, as many as sixteen golfers from the Saudi-backed league will also be competing in the major this year. Notably, seven of these sixteen players have received special invitations to participate in the tournament.
However, since most LIV golfers aren’t allowed to compete in the majors, Phil Mickelson went on to give a subtle threat suggesting that if the LIV golfers weren’t permitted to play they might boycott the major championships en masse in the future. In conversation with the Golf Channel, American professional golfer, Johnson Wagner and veteran sports writer Rex Hoggard, went on to address whether these golfers would ever consider turning down the opportunity to compete in the majors.
Hoggard believes that players such as Brooks Koepka or Jon Rahm would never pass on the opportunity to play in a major just to make a point. Meanwhile, Wagner called Mickelson’s entire comment ridiculous. He pointed out that these golfers first left the PGA Tour for the lucrative benefits offered by the Saudi-funded league and were now complaining about getting a spot in the majors.
“I have no problem with people going to LIV, take your money and go. But to think you can have it both ways is mind-boggling to me. Some need to start drinking this some truth serum, what they’re doing right now is making them look foolish.”
Hoggard also pointed out that Phil Mickelson was a bad ally to have, and that it would be ridiculous to suggest such a move. The 2024 PGA Championship is all set to begin from May 16–19, 2024 at the Valhalla Golf Course for a whopping prize pool of $17,500,000.
Phil Mickelson hints at a boycott of the majors by LIV golfers
Throughout his career, Phil Mickelson has consistently voiced his opinions on important aspects of the sport. This time, the 53-year-old golfer responded to a tweet originally posted by Flushing IT Golf on X, which suggested that LIV should focus on getting their players into the majors.
In response, Mickelson stated that currently, only a few golfers were missing from the majors. However, he predicted that as more prominent names join the league, the majors will see fewer big names on their fields, thanks to the OWGR rankings denying points to the LIV events.
Although the tweet has now been deleted, it read:
“Maybe some LIV players won’t be missed. But what if NONE of the LIV players played? Would they be missed? What about next year when more great players join? Or the following year? At some point they will care and will have to answer to sponsors and television.”
Currently, LIV golfers don’t earn Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points. This is why the majority of players are denied entry into major tournaments. LIV CEO Greg Norman has repeatedly appealed to have the World Ranking system include their events, but to no avail.
In December 2023, the league even hosted a promotional event in an attempt to attract more players to join and to persuade the authorities to reconsider their decision. A lack of player turnover was cited as one of the issues, contributing to OWGR’s rejection of the application.
However, to their dismay, the application was once again rejected, prompting Norman to stop attempting and bidding for the rankings. He even mentioned that the authorities had shown little willingness to productively work with them.
Now, as merger discussions continue, only an agreement between the two leagues can determine whether LIV golfers will have the opportunity to compete in the majors or if the lack of ranking points will lead to more players moving away from the major fields going forward.
