The crew of Fore Play Podcast had just played some golf at the Aviara Golf Club in Southern California. They sat down in the clubhouse to discuss everything that’s going on in the sport. But as they confirmed, there’s not much happening in golf right now because it’s the off-season. However, one thing that caught their attention was the PGA Tour’s highest career earners list available on the official website. It didn’t surprise them that the list began with Tiger Woods. But they couldn’t believe that Phil Mickelson wasn’t in the top-10 rankings. “This is the PGA Tour website. Is Phil Mickelson not on this website?” asked Frankie Borrelli. Trent Ryan immediately replied to Borrelli, “They probably took him off.”

After a quick fact-check, Mickelson is indeed not a part of the list. Looking at his PGA Tour profile, he has earned over $96.72 million in career earnings. That would place him at 4th on the current list above Justin Rose. But the PGA Tour hasn’t mentioned him on the list, even though he earned the paychecks as a PGA Tour pro.

“That’s crazy that they took him off. He earned that on the PGA Tour,” said Borrelli as he too agreed with the statement. To that, Sam “Riggs” Bozoian added, “They didn’t erase history. Whether he went to another league or not.”

Despite his move to LIV Golf, Mickelson still enjoyed an illustrious career on the PGA Tour. While he may not be an active player, there is no reason they would need to remove him from the all-time career earnings list. But the fact that no other LIV Golf player is also on the list explains what the PGA Tour is trying to do. Still in shock, Borrelli called the PGA Tour’s approach “psychotic.”

“I will never be a supporter of faulty information. That is a spite move. That’s not an accurate reflection of what happened,” claimed Ryan, suggesting that the PGA Tour is acting petty against players who have left for LIV Golf.

The crew compared the situation to how the NFL handles O.J. Simpson’s profile. Despite his history, he is still recognized on the official website as a Hall of Famer, and all his records are mentioned clearly. When you look at the NFL’s official website, you can see that all of Simpson’s records are still visible. While they may not celebrate his achievements, they have not discredited him because of what he did outside the sport.

As Bozoian stated, all Mickelson did was move to another league. Should the PGA Tour try to erase him from its history like this?

That’s when the group reworked the entire list with real PGA Tour career earnings. And it turns out it wasn’t just Phil Mickelson who was missing from the list.

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The many lists of the PGA Tour

After winning 45 PGA Tour titles, Phil Mickelson certainly earned the right to be listed as one of the best players in the history of the Tour. And after bagging over $96 million in paychecks, there is no reason he shouldn’t have been a part of the highest PGA Tour career earnings list as well. In fact, he has only been surpassed by Woods, Rory McIlroy, and Scottie Scheffler so far.

Interestingly, just below Mickelson, taking the 5th spot on the list is another veteran pro. Dustin Johnson has also earned more from his time with the PGA Tour and in the majors than Justin Rose.

The 41-year-old, who recently renewed his contract with LIV Golf, has 24 PGA Tour wins to his name. That also includes two major titles. He also has 16 runner-ups and 9 third-place finishes. That has helped him accumulate nearly $75.7 million.

Interestingly, Borrelli pointed out that there is a separate list that the PGA Tour has created for ‘Non-Member Earnings’. And the likes of Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed, Jon Rahm, and Co. are mentioned there. Even Mickelson made that list. But they failed to include him in the all-time career earnings list. Is this really fair to the legacy of Phil Mickelson?