Phil Mickelson’s defense of LIV Golf’s stripped-down schedule got a fresh look after a run of major results that seemed to back up his argument. The 54-year-old had said in 2023 that the circuit’s 14-event slate and 34 open weeks gave players enough time to stay sharp for the four majors without being worn down.
That pitch matters now because Mickelson is no longer talking in theory. He finished tied for second at Augusta with a final-round 7-under 65, a result that made him the oldest player in Masters history to finish inside the top five and gave his comments a hard piece of evidence to lean on.
Several other LIV players supplied more support. Brooks Koepka took a two-shot lead into the final round at Augusta before fading, then won the Wanamaker Trophy at Oak Hill the following month. Patrick Reed finished tied for fourth at the Masters. Tyrrell Hatton was tied for third, while Jon Rahm made the cut. Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Smith both finished top-10 at Oak Hill, and Smith and Dustin Johnson added top-10 finishes at the U.S. Open that year.
There was still enough unevenness to keep the claim from sounding airtight. DeChambeau missed the cut at Augusta, and the LIV contingent did not exactly overwhelm the field at the U.S. Open or The Open Championship. That leaves Mickelson with something stronger than a slogan, but short of proof that a lighter schedule always delivers in every major.
Even so, the broad picture helped LIV make its case. A circuit built around fewer events had golfers peaking at Augusta and Oak Hill in ways that were hard to ignore, and Mickelson’s 2023 tweet has aged better than many expected. The unanswered question is not whether LIV can produce major contenders; it is whether that edge holds across an entire season, or just in bursts when the biggest stages arrive.
