It is safe to say that Phil Mickelson and Jay Monahan do not see eye to eye. Mickelson, being the senior-most player in the rebel league, was also the recruiter for the cause he put his heart and mind to. Several times the Oldest Major winner took up the mantle to shoot straight at the PGA Tour chairman, Jay Monahan, and all things Tour. As we get another intriguing news about a possible merger delay, we look at the three times the Lefty was right on the money.

But why the Lefty? Phil Mickelson is not Greg Norman. In that, he didn’t dominate the Tour as the Australian did. Neither is the Lefty the CEO of the LIV Golf like Norman. But given Great White Shark’s relative reticence and Mickelson’s close proximity with the top brass, the 53-year-old has become the unofficial spokesperson for the upstart league. So, here are his three best takes in the last two years that proved to be true.

Questioning Monahan’s leadership

Phil Mickelson has a bone to pick with Jay Monahan. The LIV Golf pro has lambasted the PGAT boss since leaving the Tour. The 53-year-old wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that the golf world is in disarray, “entirely because of [Monahan.]”

As the days passed by, Monahan started losing trust from players. Soon, there were calls for his resignation. Geoff Ogilvy revealed that in a heated post-merger meeting, a player called Monahan a “hypocrite” to his face. Mickelson probably has a ‘told-ya-so’ smile on his face.

Phil Mickelson made a bold claim about LIV Golf

Monahan claimed that LIV Golf will reshape golf’s future. While its shotgun, three-day start, team play format is yet to find acceptability in the golf world, LIV Golf has certainly brought some crucial changes in the game.

PGA Tour now has eight signature events with $20M purses. In fact, the Tour announced that five of those eight events will not have any cuts as well. A potential merger, even though it might be late in coming, is likely to bring forth further changes. 

Rightly predicted many big names would join LIV Golf

Before Jon Rahm made the jump to LIV Golf, rumors spread like wildfire. Alan Shipnuck, the author of “Phil: The Rip-Roaring (and Unauthorized!) Biography of Golf’s Most Colorful Superstar”, claimed Phil Mickelson was the one who was spreading the rumors in close quarters. 

But rumors aside, the 46-time PGA Tour winner appeared supremely confident when he said he knew for sure more players were going to come. “I know that’s going to happen. When players look at LIV, they are wanting to be a part of it,” Mickelson boldly claimed from Trump Doral. Jon Rahm, incidentally, made the switch not long after. Mickelson and Rahm are known to be close friends. 

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