At Record Low Since PGA Tour Exit, Phil Mickelson Proves Jack Nicklaus Was Right All Along About LIV Golf

April 2001 was a different time for Phil Mickelson, who was ranked No. 2 back then. Since then, he has dominated the golfing world with 45 wins, 6 of them being Majors, 3 at the Masters. However, once he moved to the Dubai-based LIV Golf in 2022, things have not been in his favor. The last time he came close to win at a major was in 2023 at Augusta when he tied with Brooks Koepka for the runner-up position, 4 strokes behind the winner Jon Rahm. His failures at LIV also forced him to reveal last year that his career “Is towards its end.” But what has happened now is simply not what Lefty would have thought of. Still, seems like the 18x PGA Tour winner, Jack Nicklaus, knew it all along.

Hitting the ceremonial tee shots on Thursday to kick off yet another Masters was seemingly not enough for Nicklaus. As it turns out, he also had some shade to throw at Phil and LIV. “Well, you know, I don’t know what level Phil is competing at. I guess he’s still playing. He’s playing the LIV Tour, is he? I don’t know if he’s playing or not. I don’t know, you never see that anymore.” Reading between the lines, the golf veteran stated that LIV is not a legitimate league. Now, after the second round at Augusta National, Nicklaus’s comments on the LIV Golfer’s career are proven right.

Recently, Nosferatu, which posts updates on Olympic golf ranking, shared an update: “This week, Phil Mickelson has dropped outside of the top 1000 in the world for the first time in his long career (#1009). The MC at #themasters means that he will not get back inside for now… #OWGR.”

In the first round of the Masters, Lefty carded a 75. He might have hoped to bounce back on the second day, but a 74 with 5-over didn’t let him since the cut line was set on 2 over par. As a result, he missed the cut and had to exit the tournament early. This, of course, seems to be the opposite of Mickelson’s initial plan.

Ahead of the tournament, Phil had stated, “The fact is I’m hitting a lot of good shots. I’m playing some good golf, and this is a building week as I continue to build into LIV and my goal of accomplishing a win in LIV as well as winning another major, getting ready for Augusta.”

After his podium finish with third place at LIV Golf Hong Kong in March and a T-6 at the LIV Golf Miami, he was looking in decent form before coming to the Masters. He even revealed his self-confidence, “We are starting to trend up. We are starting to play really well. And there are four majors. So, my goal is to win a LIV event. My goal to win another major, I can feel is within reach.” Unfortunately, it didn’t work out, and the career of a 6x major champion now hits rock bottom.

However, he seems to be fine with the early exit and continues to plan on returning and claiming a good spot at Augusta. After the loss, he talked to the media saying, “I had a lot of fun. I wish I played better. I thought it was great. I thought that it was challenging with the wind today, but the greens were more receptive. I think they put some water on it knowing that. I thought it was playing, fun, great challenge, hard. It’s the Masters; I love everything about it. 

Top Comment by Sodsquad

He is soon to be 55 and still hitting bombs the writer could only dream about hitting in his 20s

Share your take

Debate

“I’ve been playing good golf this year, and so I’m disappointed with my score this week. But I’ve been playing some good golf. I’ll get back at it here soon.”

As for missing the cut, he had more thoughts, “I really thought I was going to play well and get right in it. I can’t remember – I haven’t missed very many cuts here, and I’m surprised that I missed one this year because I was playing really well heading in.” But not all grass has been green for Phil.

Except for a T3 finish at LIV Golf Hong Kong in March, the rest of Phil Mickelson’s season has been more of a rollercoaster than a victory lap—T23 in Adelaide, T19 in Singapore, and a glimmer of form with sixth in Miami. It’s been a patchy scorecard; more of faint sparks than sizzles.

As it turns out, Nick had predicted this as well when he was asked to compare Phil’s game to that of Tiger Woods. He said after teeing off, “As far as Phil, I think Phil has been competitive in an odd event here and there but not really in the last few years. You know, Phil has been a good player. There’s no question about that. There’s no question he’s been a good player.”

That said, a comeback is still very much within reach for him. We’ve seen it happen before—Tiger Woods‘ incredible win at the 2019 Masters after battling a back injury. He clinched his 15th major after a 13-year drought. But there’s one factor that could be a tougher obstacle this time for Phil Mickelson: age.

At 54, Lefty is nearly twice the age of some of the young talents on the course today. While his experience is undeniable, the reality is that the human body has its limits. Despite the setbacks, Mickelson is still positive and has some plans for the rest of the Majors.

What is Phil Mickelson’s plan?

For Mickelson, patience seems to be the key to victory. Luckily, the golfer has that. In Miami, he talked about his approach toward the shots and said, “I would press. I would force the issue.” However, this strategy can backfire, and it did for him back in the 1999 Masters. On the par-5 Firethorn (15th), the golfer tried to “force the issue,” which eventually resulted in bogeys or worse. Later, the golfer accepted that a 5 on the 15th is fine because it’s not the end of the tournament.

The 54-year-old talked about it, saying, “When I finally did win it, I felt like, all right, a 5 is okay there. Like, I could lose the tournament on 15; I don’t need to make 4 every time.” Thanks to that, he finally won his first Masters in 2004.

Aside from that, Mickelson is also cooking up with smarter club selections and focusing on the best possible outcome. While it might help him further in the coming years, Lefty is strong mentally as well. “I’ve been able to think much better. I’ve been able to process things much better, stay present much better, not force it much better than I have in the past,” he shared recently.

Do you think these are enough for Phil Mickelson to win his 7th major title? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below!