Phil Mickelson is one of the most controversial players in the golf world. After he signed the lucrative LIV Golf deal worth $200 million, Mickelson has been on the news consistently. However, he doesn’t mind facing a few hard questions on the cost of earning tons of money from the Saudi-based league. But it is not as easy as it sounds for Mickelson to earn his $200 million from LIV Golf.

Here’s why Mickelson won’t get the LIV Golf millions upfront

Phil Mickelson made a bold decision to join LIV Golf as one of the first players in the league. Greg Norman offered Lefty a sum of $200 million to join the breakaway circuit. And to everyone’s surprise, Mickelson left his entire PGA Tour legacy for the new format-based league. However, his decision to leave the PGA Tour was expected by a few of his fans after he made some unacceptable statements about the tour and Jay Monahan off the record.

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Despite being caught in controversy for a long time, Mickelson kept moving forward with his decision to join LIV Golf. He even pointed out that the new league was way better than the PGA tour in numerous aspects. However, due to his choice of switching tours, most of Mickelson’s sponsors including Workday and Callaway dropped their deals with him.

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This was a huge financial drawback for Mickelson since these were some of the biggest sponsors of the players. Market leaders like KPMG and Heineken/Amstel also dropped their contracts with Mickelson after he decided to ditch the PGA Tour.

As long as Mickelson’s side of the story was concerned, he mentioned that he wanted to provide his partners with “the option to pause or end the relationship as I understand it might be necessary given the current circumstances.” 

Mickelson’s sponsors dropping him has been a huge setback for the player’s financial state. However, most might suggest that after signing a humongous deal with LIV Golf, money wouldn’t be a problem for Mickelson. It’s true, but the LIV Golf money will also come at a cost for the golfer. A cost which he will have to pay since he has already signed the Saudi league contract.

What will it take for Phil Mickelson to receive the $200 million from LIV Golf?

Not as easy as it sounds, Mickelson will have to abide by certain responsibilities on and off the course to support the league. Other than giving his best on the field, there are certain demands of the LIV Golf league from their players. And these demands need to be met for the players to receive breathtaking amounts from Greg Norman’s league.

According to the LIV Golf contract, Mickelson agreed to provide “exclusive, perpetual, royalty-free, worldwide” rights to “exhibit, exploit, copy, reproduce and otherwise use” his image as and when required.

Despite having a problem when the PGA Tour did the same, Mickelson somehow agreed to this condition set by LIV. Moreover, the players do not have a choice to skip any events in the LIV Golf league unless an emergency arises.

The contract also included Mickelson and other players to convince other players to join in. Quoting the deal, the players need to “assist the league operator in seeking to persuade players” to join LIV Golf. Mickelson is also bound to wear his LIV apparel along with the LIV logo to both LIV and non-LIV tournaments. Mickelson is also banned from appearing in any interviews without permission from LIV Golf.

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