Phil Mickelson found himself in a bit of hot water over a rather quickly deleted post about PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and the 2023 PGA Championship. Mickelson has been quite vocal about the qualifying criteria for the PGA Tour’s major championships, and this time was no different.
All the golfers on the LIV Golf Series have been dropped from the OWGR since their defection as well as have been banned or have resigned from their respective tours. This has caused their world rankings to plummet and made them ineligible for various tournaments.
This also includes a harsh qualification criteria for major championships, and only 18 LIV Golfers have managed to make the cut for the PGA Championship. Phil Mickelson’s frustration was expressed in an angry tweet directed toward Jay Monahan, which was quickly deleted.
The likes of Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, and Kevin Na did not make the cut for the Championship. However, Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson and others who did make the cut will give tough competition to the field.
Phil Mickelson pointed out that the PGA Tour was using the OWGR points as a qualification criteria for the PGA Championship. Despite that, World No. 103 Cameron Tringale, World No. 110 Jason Kokrak and World No. 111 Sebastian Munoz did not make the cut. On the other hand, World No. 128 Beau Hossler made the cut – because he is a part of the PGA Tour.
“3 years from now who is most likely to still be here? Monahan or LIV? We won’t forget. You too Whan.”
However this might not be all true, as LIV Golfer Paul Casey got a special invitation to the 2023 PGA Championship – despite being ranked 131st. This was in lieu of the rising golfer’s strong performance in 2021 and his inability to compete in 2022 due to injury
Phil Mickelson’s uphill battle to promote the LIV Golf Series
The emergence of the LIV Golf Series was received with little-to-no enthusiasm. Many pro golfers decided to remain loyal to the PGA Tour, with Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods emerging as the face of the Tour during this split.
Phil Mickelson on the other hand has been the driving force for the LIV Golf Series, with the likes of Dustin Johnson, Cameron Smith, and Brooks Koepka following suit. However, this has led to tension and a split in the golf world.
When the LIV Golf players were dropped from the OWGR points, it caused massive outrage. Then World No. 1 Cameron Smith quickly lost out on his position as the golfers continued to drop down the ranking table.