Phil Mickelson is riding towards his post-retirement career. In a golf cart with Brendan Steele on his side. After snubbing broadcasting plans, the 53-year-old posted a clip on his official X (formerly Twitter) handle with his LIV colleague. They appeared to be shooting the first episode of ‘Pros vs. Schmos that the veteran revealed to be his next career plan just days ago.
Lefty joked, “I feel like we’re in the episode of Seinfeld the Bizarro world.” The 53-year-old was referring to the third episode from season 8 of Seinfeld, where George Costanza and Cosmo Kramer meet their doppelgangers but they are the total opposite of each other.
Steele, who most recently won at LIV Golf Adelaide, continues the thread. “Yeah, up is down, down is up. You say ‘goodbye’ when you arrive, and ‘hello’ when you leave.” A little taken aback, Mickelson replied, “What? That’s what I feel is happening.” Well, Mickelson’s goodbye to Golf will be his ‘hello’ to a new career on YouTube.
Phil Mickelson earlier clarified that he would be very much interested in playing 9-hole matches, with insightful commentaries along the way. That response came after one fan floated the idea of Mickelson moving to broadcasting. The 45-time PGA Tour winner replied, “However, just cuz someone CAN do something doesn’t mean they SHOULD do it. Instead of commentating, I’m going to shoot some Pros vs Schmos 9 hole matches. I’ll share insights throughout as well as talk a little smack.”
Ian Poulter was ready to sign up. Lamenting their ruined chances facing each other as Ryder Cup captains, the Englishman wrote, “I’m happy to be the Schmos if you like..” As was Wesley Bryan and his brother George Bryan IV, both of whom played in the Myrtle Beach Classic recently.
Ultimately, it appears, Mickelson will start his journey with his close friend Steele. They both have played practice matches before. And Steele has credited Mickelson for a lot of help in his golf career. The six-time Major winner, though, is sticking to his plans of hanging up his golf clubs as he revealed in a recent interview.
Rory McIlroy looks to one-up Phil Mickelson soon
Lefty first talked about retirement in a chat with Haslinda Amin of Bloomberg. “I’m 53 now. and my career, you know, it’s — if I’m being truthful, it’s on — it’s — it’s — I’m a — it’s towards its end.” The veteran golfer has only been in the top ten twice since last May. At the Masters, Lefty tied for 43rd. The lack of OWGR points has also pushed Mickelson outside of the top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking. The six-time Major winner was 80th last May and now he is 160th.
On top of that, Rory McIlroy has closed the gap on the PGA Tour money list. Phil Mickelson has $96 million in career earnings, standing second right behind Tiger Woods, courtesy of 45 career wins and 536 cuts made. But McIlroy, after his fourth Wells Fargo Championship title, is just $10 million away from Lefty. At 35, the Ulsterman has plenty of time to usurp Mickelson from the second spot. However, per reports, the oldest major winner earned $200 million in guaranteed contract in joining LIV. Both are two-time PGA Championship winners, and both will head toward Valhalla this week to increase their tally.
In a sport beset by change, recent and unwelcome
, a nostalgic comfort is found in one thing that remains familiar after all these years.
There’s still nothing like watching Tiger Woods hit a golf ball.
“His skill level, his talent is still just mesmerizing,” said fellow PGA Tour golfer Max Homa.
The Big Cat isn’t back. Not by his standards.
But he’s here.
Woods, 48, is teeing it up at this week’s PGA Championship at Valhalla, where he won this tournament in 2000 – literally half a lifetime ago. His appearance is a rare treat for golf fans who’ve grow accustomed to seldom seeing him prowl the links anymore.
Since July 2022, Woods has played in only five PGA Tour events – and he withdrew from two.
The competitive spirit is willing, but physically? That’s his question, and it isn’t going away.
Woods said Tuesday his body feels “OK.” That he is “always going to feel soreness and stiffness in my back.” That he wishes his “game was a little sharper,” because, after all, he doesn’t play much. He also said that he appreciates all this more, also because he doesn’t play much.
And yet, Woods said this, too, like a man who meant it: “I still feel that I can win golf tournaments.”
“I still feel I can hit the shots,” he said. “I still feel like I have my hands around the greens, and I can putt. I just need to do it for all four days.”
For anyone old enough to remember Woods in his prime, it’s odd – and, frankly, a little sad – to imagine him sitting at the site of a major tournament, having to convince anyone of his capacity to play golf at the highest level.
Being a massive underdog, it doesn’t suit Woods, given the unmistakable aura and massive crowds that accompany his every step on a golf course. But at the same time, it’d be truly stunning for him to repeat his previous PGA win here at Valhalla. Too many of those steps on this golf course.
Old baseball pitchers will tell you, years after retiring, that they’d still be capable of heating up their arms for one, good, vintage performance. The trouble would come with asking their aging arms to keep doing it again and again against younger competition.
Woods figures to still be capable of one special shot or putt or round, “but when that energy and that adrenaline wears off either sometime Thursday or Friday, what does he have after that?” said Curtis Strange, former golfer-turned-ESPN-analyst.
Last month, Woods made the cut at The Masters with rounds of 73 and 72, but he followed it with disappointing rounds of 82 and 77 to finish at 16-over-par, last among those who golfed into the weekend in Augusta.
“Getting around is more of the difficulty that I face, day to day, and the recovery, pushing myself either in practice or on competitive days,” Woods said. “I mean, you saw it at Augusta. I was there after two days and didn’t do very well on the weekend.”
The head tells you he has no chance, but the heart wants to listen to Homa, who played alongside Woods for those first two rounds at The Masters.
“It’s always going to be crazy to think he’d win another one,” Homa said, “but watching him play those two days at Augusta, I very much thought he could win another golf tournament. …
“I’d put nothing past him at this point.”
Rory McIlroy has now won the Wells Fargo Championship four times. But never has it been worth more — at least, financially — than on this occasion.
This year’s edition was a signature event on the Tour schedule, with a $20 million purse and $3.6 million to the winner. That haul takes McIlroy’s Wells Fargo career total to $9,463,076.
With $86.6 million in official career Tour earnings, McIlroy is now $10 million from surpassing Phil Mickelson for second on the all-time list. Tiger Woods is first with $121 million.
Here’s a look at the purse payout in the no-cut event in Charlotte, North Carolina:
| FINISH | PLAYER | EARNINGS |
| 1 | Rory McIlroy | $3,600,000 |
| 2 | Xander Schauffele | $2,160,000 |
| 3 | Byeong Hun An | $1,360,000 |
| T4 | Jason Day | $880,000 |
| T4 | Sungjae Im | $880,000 |
| T6 | Mackenzie Hughes | $695,000 |
| T6 | Denny McCarthy | $695,000 |
| T8 | Max Homa | $601,000 |
| T8 | Sepp Straka | $601,000 |
| T10 | Russell Henley | $501,000 |
| T10 | Grayson Murray | $501,000 |
| T10 | Taylor Pendrith | $501,000 |
| T13 | Corey Conners | $387,667 |
| T13 | Tommy Fleetwood | $387,667 |
| T13 | Sam Burns | $387,667 |
| T16 | Lucas Glover | $301,000 |
| T16 | Si Woo Kim | $301,000 |
| T16 | Seamus Power | $301,000 |
| T16 | Christiaan Bezuidenhout | $301,000 |
| T16 | Collin Morikawa | $301,000 |
| T21 | Justin Thomas | $224,667 |
| T21 | Keegan Bradley | $224,667 |
| T21 | Stephan Jaeger | $224,667 |
| T24 | Viktor Hovland | $166,500 |
| T24 | Webb Simpson | $166,500 |
| T24 | Nick Dunlap | $166,500 |
| T24 | Alex Noren | $166,500 |
| T24 | Lee Hodges | $166,500 |
| T29 | Patrick Cantlay | $130,500 |
| T29 | Jordan Spieth | $130,500 |
| T29 | Adam Scott | $130,500 |
| T29 | Patrick Rodgers | $130,500 |
| T29 | Andrew Putnam | $130,500 |
| T34 | Matt Kuchar | $106,000 |
| T34 | Harris English | $106,000 |
| T34 | Kurt Kitayama | $106,000 |
| T34 | Cameron Young |
The situation between Brandel Chamblee and Anthony Kim has most of Golf Twitter abuzz.
Their dispute has led to a broader discussion, with fans and media personalities questioning the state of professional golf and its enormous divide. Phil Mickelson received a cheap shot from Chamblee during this Twitter feud.
The six-time major winner eventually took to social media to respond to a fan calling the game of golf broken.
“OR, golf was broken and is in the process of being fixed,” Mickelson wrote in response. “1) average age of PGA tour viewers recently went from 60 to 65. 2) totally U.S. centric and no plan to globalize opportunities. 3) monopolistic control of media rights wouldn’t allow for players to use YouTube and other social platforms to promote the game to the next generation and working from within the Tour wasn’t an option. i.e. Bryson [DeChambeau]. What he’s doing now wasn’t allowed before LIV. Fixing the problem takes time, but it’s better than waiting for it to collapse entirely.”
Mickelson’s words sound familiar because PGA Tour fans have made the same critiques. Many feel that the Tour is lacking in certain areas.
For example, one of the most noticeable issues is the decline in television viewership. Despite Scottie Scheffler putting forth a historic performance at The Masters, ratings declined sharply.
LIV Golf may not be the answer, which its awful ratings illustrate. But it shows golf fans something different. Allowing Bryson DeChambeau to film and post on YouTube broadens the audience.
Just look at what happened with the Myrtle Beach Classic and YouTube Golf when they collaborated. Eight content creators competed against professional golfers in The Q at Myrtle Beach and they created a video about the whole thing. It brought in thousands of viewers on the video, and the crowds in Myrtle Beach were massive for an opposite-field event.
If anyone knows how strict the PGA Tour is with content, it is Ryan French, who runs the Monday Q Info account on X. He follows the Monday qualifiers and has had multiple videos and photos flagged over the years.
French’s concerns likely resonate with golf fans. It is sad to see golf this broken.
Mickelson’s suggestion that golf is being fixed feels far-fetched. It has almost been a year since the PGA Tour and Saudi PIF announced a deal, and nothing of note has been done.
The 106th edition of the PGA Championship is set to be held at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, United States from May 16-19. 16 champions will be teeing off at the tournament, but only 14 names were put on the PGA Championships portal. Phil Mickelson was one of them. Not that he has pulled out, but Lefty’s name is a conspicuous absence in the past PGA Champions category on the official website. His LIV teammates, Martin Kaymer and Brooks Koepka, are listed as past champions, but not Mickelson.
Interestingly, the other past champion, Jimmy Walker‘s name also was missing. Walker won the PGA Championship in 2016. The six-time PGA Tour winner’s name is listed in the full field list available on the PGA Championship website. Additionally, Walker’s name was also there when the PGA released the 156-man field, as was Phil Mickelson’s mention as a former champion.
The six-time Major winner is in the field solely based on his past champion status. Last year, the 45-time PGA Tour winner was the 80th OWGR to enter the PGA Championship. This year, he has slipped to 158th. LIV Golfers don’t receive any OWGR points, and Greg Norman has withdrawn his application for world ranking points.
At the 103rd edition of the PGA Championship, Lefty created history and became the oldest Lefty major champion in the history of professional golf. The record was previously held by Julius Boros, who won the PGA Championship in 1968 at the age of 48. At Kiawah Island, Phil Mickelson, the veteran, fended off threats from Brooks Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen in a two-shot triumph and lifted the Wanamaker Trophy for the second time at the age of 50 years and 11 months.
Mickelson who had turned 51 then said, “Certainly, one of the moments I’ll cherish my entire life.” The two-time winner of the PGA Championship has eight additional top-10s in his 30 appearances. Lefty was also runner-up twice, in 2001 and again in 2014, which was also played in Valhalla. Last year, Phil Mickelson tied for the 51st spot.
However, Lefty’s omission from the list indeed comes as a shocker. Notably, Phil Mickelson is also not on the interview schedule released by the PGA. Fans also complained of the backhanded treatment given by Augusta National a month ago at the Masters. The apparent blunder from the PGA just piles on top of that.
Phil Mickelson wasn’t included in the pre-Masters press conference
When ANGC released its press conference schedule, Phil Mickelson’s name was missing from the list of players. Ironically, the schedule included rookie Ludvig Aberg and, among other stars, Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, and Jordan Spieth. But Mickelson’s opinions riled many fans, with some terming it an ‘absolute disgrace.’ Whereas some asked majors to move away from the politics that have gripped men’s professional golf for the last few years.
The snub at the 2024 Masters seemed to have affected the 45-time PGA Tour player. According to reports at the Champions Dinner, Lefty was rather quiet and distant than usual; his behavior caught the eye of not one but two veteran golfers. Fuzzy Zoeller, the 1979 Masters champion, spoke about how he “sat near the end of the table” and “didn’t speak at all.” Even Nick Faldo was a bit perplexed about Phil Mickelson’s detached conduct and iterated, “Phil was very quiet on Tuesday; he didn’t say a word,” “He was dead quiet, standing next to me. I wonder why.”
Mickelson, in a more recent interview, admitted he was a divisive figure. Recently, the veteran golfer fired a veiled attack on the PGA and other major organizers for not doing enough to include LIV golfers. This year, 16 LIV golfers will take part in the PGA Championship. The PGA sent an invitation to seven LIV golf pros, including Talor Gooch, for whom Mickelson batted last year. The 156-man field will also have Lucas Herbert, David Puig, and Joaquin Niemann. Mickelson’s HyFlyers teammate, Andy Ogletree, has also qualified for the second major of the season.
How will the 106th edition of the tournament go? It remains to be seen! Who are you rooting for this year? A LIV golfer or a PGA Tour pro?
Fans tuning into the PGA championship this week may do a double take when they see Tiger Woods hit the green on Thursday.
The 48-year-old arrived to Valhalla golf club on Sunday to partake in a practice session ahead of his return to the Kentucky golf course for the second golf major of the year.
The event’s official social media account shared footage of Woods arrival, showing him getting in some practice shots on the social platform X.
However it wasn’t his swing or shots which drew attention to him, instead it was the unexpected and uncharacteristic facial here he was rocking.
The golf veteran who is usually sporting a clean shave showed that his lifelong decision to not have a beard was voluntary as he showed off a full grown goatee.
Whether or not the five-time Masters winner will keep the goatee for the tournament or shave it off before Thursday is unknown.
Many were expecting Woods would show up this week at the Kentucky venue as the golf pro indicated after the Masters that he was planning to play in this year’s PGA Championship.
Woods is very familiar with Valhalla as he is a former champion and will be hoping he can imitate that success this week.
Woods claimed his maiden and only victory at the course in 2000 when he beat Bob May in a three-hole playoff in the PGA Championship.
The American will be hoping to find glory once again in Louisville however he comes up against one of strongest fields in golf.
2024 Masters winner Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm are few of the other heavyweights in golf who will line out in Louisville this week.
For fans hoping to catch a glimpse of Wood’s new look, the Northern Irish man will be teeing off at 9am on Wednesday, May 15 in the first round of the competition.
Woods will be in for a treat if he manages to find form once again as the winner gets a sizeable amount from the $17million prize pot.
The payout for this year’s competition is expected to increase from last year’s tournament which saw Brooks Koepka finish top of the leader board to claim the $3,150,000 prize.
While Scottie Scheffler looks to match the dominance of Tiger Woods on the course, the 15-time major champion is still the key to generating business for stakeholders away from the links.
Woods will be helping lead negotiations with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia about becoming another minority investor in PGA Tour Enterprises. The Strategic Sports Group has already invested $1.5 billion in the newly formed for-profit entity
Phil Mickelson couldn’t help but get involved in a furious exchange between Anthony Kim and Brandel Chamblee as they argued about LIV Golf and the PGA Tour.
Over the last couple of years Golf Channel analyst and one-time Tour winner Chamblee has been the instigator.
But it was actually Kim who decided to put Chamblee in his crosshairs this week, describing the 61-year-old as a ‘p—-‘ for imploring the North American circuit to strike a deal with the breakaway tour’s Saudi financiers.
Chamblee’s thoughts represented a seismic U-turn given the fact he previously called for Mickelson to be removed from golf’s hall of fame for his close ties to the Saudis.
Kim joined LIV in February having spent more than a decade in the wilderness after last competing on the PGA Tour in 2012.
When he emerged, he told of how he struggled with addiction and, alarmingly, claimed that doctors told him he wouldn’t live much longer unless he changed his ways.
The golfer has repeatedly pointed to the influence of his wife Emily and his daughter Bella for keeping him on the straight and narrow.
Kim has struggled for form with LIV so far but maintains he will turn the corner and win again.
Now, Mickelson has offered his two cents and claims that men’s professional golf is in the process being sorted out once and for all.
“Fixing the problem takes time but it’s better than waiting for it to collapse entirely,” he wrote.
Mickelson’s latest comments come as the PGA Tour unveiled a ‘transaction subcommittee’ that will meet with representatives of LIV and the PIF of Saudi Arabia.
It was first reported that Tiger Woods would be the only PGA Tour player involved in the face-to-face talks but it later emerged Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott will be on the board.
News of McIlroy’s involvement was surprising given that the aforementioned Woods, Jordan Spieth and Patrick Cantlay blocked McIlroy’s return to the policy board.
McIlroy insisted there were no hard feelings and denied there was a rift with Woods.
Phil Mickelson believes LIV Golf is helping to ‘fix’ professional golf, after highlighting a whole host of flaws formulated by the PGA Tour.
Mickelson became the Saudi-backed league’s trailblazer two years ago, having emerged as the first big name from PGA Tour to pledge his support to the breakaway circuit. Since then, the two rival tours have found themselves at war at the top of the golfing pyramid, and the six-time major champion has often been at the centre of the fallout.
He reentered the discussion on Saturday, taking to X (formerly Twitter ) to hit back at claims that the sport had been left broken by the recent split. “Golf was broken and is in the process of being fixed,” the HyFlyers captain tweeted.
“1) average age of pga tour viewer recently went from 60 to 65. 2) totally US centric and no plan to globalize opportunities. 3) monopolistic control of media rights wouldn’t allow for players to use YouTube and other social platforms to promote the game to the next generation and working from within the Tour wasn’t an option.
“Ie Bryson [DeChambeau]. What he’s doing now wasn’t allowed before LIV. Fixing the problem takes time but it’s better than waiting for it to collapse entirely.” One argument Mickelson has often used against the PGA Tour is players being unable to control their own media rights, a point he raised when first committing his loyalties to the Saudi setup.
His take on X came after fellow LIV star Anthony Kim had been embroiled in a social media fallout with staunch breakaway league critic Brandel Chamblee. Kim highlighted Chamblee’s u-turn on the Saudi involvement in professional golf, after claiming the Tour should reach an agreement with the Middle Eastern fund despite having previously been critical.
“Ramble Chamblee @chambleebrandel ur such a p—- 4 beating on ur chest & basically saying never retreat & hypocritically retreat,” Kim tweeted. “It is well known this talentless fool is disliked by most people in the golf world. U still gonna cover golf if @livgolf_league is involved?”
Former PGA Tour star and golf analyst Chamblee was quick to hit back, defending his reasoning behind back-tracking on previous criticism of the Saudi’s involvement in pro golf – all whilst including a low blow at Mickelson. “This is about as inaccurate as a lot of Mickelson’s drives,” Chamblee said in response to Kim.
“And sadly ironical coming two tweets after you asked for advice on raising your daughter that you would refer to someone as a female body part in a juvenile attempt to denigrate them. It’s clear that you were not offered disability for your pithy takes. As for your criticism of me saying a deal with the Saudis is the best deal for golf right now.”
He went on: “It’s something I’ve said recently, because I don’t think the Saudis are going to turn away from the game and they will continue to be a poaching threat and dilute the product of the PGA Tour. It’s the sad reality of you and your brethren on the LIV tour willingly dealing with a murderous dictator for profit so that he can hide his atrocities, that golf has had to try to figure out how to mitigate the influence of MBS, PIF and LIV in the otherwise philanthropical and merit based world of professional golf.
“Now why don’t you get back to doing what you formerly did best, which is to wow the world with your talent. I don’t like LIV for a lot of reasons, but I certainly enjoyed your golf and would love to see you playing anything like the semblance of the golfer you used to be.”
Kim made a shock return to pro golf earlier this year, signing for LIV as a wildcard 12 years after his last PGA Tour start.