Five years ago, Phil Mickelson made history as the oldest golfer ever to win a major. He captured the 2021 PGA Championship at 50 and cemented a place among the sport’s greatest comeback stories. Fast forward to 2026, and the six-time major champion has yet to tee it up in any major this season. He withdrew from the Masters and the PGA Championship, citing family health reasons.

The issue, however, is that he may not have many chances soon. While Mickelson has a lifetime exemption for the Masters and the PGA Championship, he might have to bid farewell to professional golf apart from those two events if LIV Golf dissolves next year.

“Well, you’d have to say Phil just because his body is unbroken, whereas Tiger smashed up so many different parts of his,” golf writer Alan Shipnuck said on the Rich Eisen Show. “But on the other hand, if Tiger can piece it together, he can play on the senior tour with a cart. That option is not available to Phil because of his allegiance to LIV Golf. For him to play a PGA Tour or a Senior Tour event, he’s going to have to serve a suspension of at least a year. He’s going to have to pay a mega fine. I think he’s disinclined to do either one.

“If LIV Golf goes away next year, which is increasingly likely, Phil’s a man without a country. He has nowhere to play. At least Tiger is welcome wherever he wants to play. So even though Tiger has all these health challenges, I’d probably, in the final analysis, take him as more likely to at least try and soldier through a tournament, whereas Phil just might have nowhere to go.”

When Mickelson won the PGA Championship at 50 years and 341 days to break the previous record held by Julius Boros’s 1968 mark of 48, he became a folk hero for a brief time. However, when he switched to LIV Golf in 2022 and supported the Saudi-backed league, it burned all his goodwill. And while it might not have mattered for him until now, that could change next year.

Ever since PIF announced it wouldn’t back the league anymore, CEO Scott O’Neil and others have been working to attract investment. However, given its track record and major losses, that is proving challenging. The league has not found any support yet, and there are rumors that it may file for bankruptcy as a last resort.

If that happens, Phil Mickelson, like other LIV golfers, will have limited paths back to the PGA Tour. It is highly unlikely that an American professional would walk those paths. In fact, many believe that the PGA Tour itself might be unwilling to have him back.

“I can promise you one person that you’ll never see in any way in an official capacity with the PGA Tour is Phil Mickelson,” golf analyst Trey Wingo told Awful Announcing’s Brandon Contes.

According to him, there is no bridge back for the 45-time PGA Tour winner.

During an appearance on the Sky Sports Golf Podcast, Billy Horschel also said that Lefty might not be back on the PGA Tour. Despite his being a lifetime member and having done a lot, there are many things Mickelson did and said that have made his path back impossible. Not just professionals or the board management, the golfer’s actions have changed his perception among fans, too.

From being someone whom fans saw as the closest to Tiger Woods in modern golf, he has now become just another LIV golfer. Some media reports even claimed that he has received more criticism than any other professional on social media. His image was further tarnished when Phil Mickelson was kicked out of The Farms Golf Club in Rancho Santa Fe, California. He allegedly made nonconsensual physical contact with a female employee. According to his lawyers, he has now resigned from the club’s membership himself.

All of these add up to the fact that he simply has few options for playing professional golf if LIV Golf ceases to exist. On the other hand, Tiger Woods has also had a DUI arrest in March 2026. While that did lead to controversies, the 15-time major champion went to rehab in Switzerland and is now back. In fact, sources close to him also confirmed that he is still looking for a comeback.

This gives Tiger Woods a far better chance to play professional golf regularly than Phil Mickelson.