Phil Mickelson has just made a truly astounding claim about LIV Golf and the Ryder Cup.
Mickelson joined LIV Golf from the PGA Tour in 2022, and some say that he tarnished his legacy by doing so.
The 54-year-old is one of the most successful golfers to have ever played the game, with 45 PGA Tour wins, six majors and 12 Ryder Cup appearances to his name.
Mickelson admitted that he’s not the ‘right guy’ to be a Ryder Cup captain, due to his divisive nature.
The Californian caused a huge furore back in 2014 when he appeared to question Tom Watson’s decisions as Ryder Cup captain and highlighting the success of former captain Paul Azinger.
Mickelson has never shied away from difficult conversations or controversial takes.
And he clearly hasn’t changed since joining LIV three years ago.
Phil Mickelson says why LIV team golf is better than the Ryder Cup
Hold onto your hats, because this take from the six-time major champion is a truly wild one.
Mickelson has been on LIV since 2022, and has captained the HyFlyers team since then.
He is still yet to win an individual title on LIV, nor a team event.
However, that doesn’t mean that he isn’t relishing the team aspect of the Saudi-backed golf league.
Mickelson was speaking on LIV Golf’s official YouTube channel, and made a quite incredible comparison between LIV team golf and the Ryder Cup:
“I have a lot of great, special moments from US team golf in the Ryder Cup and the Presidents Cup. I had 25 straight years of that, and it was awesome, but it was only one week a year. That’s what I love about LIV golf, I love the team aspect of it so much, and now we get to do it every week out on LIV, and that’s what I really enjoy about it. I think there’s a lot of similarities between the team aspects on LIV and the Presidents Cup. We don’t have the size of the team but what that does is it reminds me of the pods we kind of had, starting with Paul Azinger at the Ryder Cup in 2008, and we carried that on in the Presidents Cup going forward. You focus on this small unit to help bring the best out of each other, much like the navy seals do. It’s a little bit more emotionally connected out on LIV because with 12 guys you don’t have that type of connection so there’s this accountability that you have for each other and with each other.”
A LIV disciple coming out with a clearly disingenuous take is nothing new of course.
But those remarks from Mickelson really do take the biscuit.
Mickelson and LIV aren’t fooling anybody
Every single person involved with LIV seems to constantly tell everyone how great the Saudi-backed golf league is.
That old adage springs to mind – if you have something to brag about, you don’t have to, other people will do it for you.
The constant stream of propaganda emanating from LIV is painful to listen to at times, and Mickelson’s latest comments were as ridiculous as they were inauthentic.
The Ryder Cup is the most prestigious and exciting team event in world golf.
Despite what Mickelson said, every golf fan knows this as well.
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