‘Something you wouldn’t think:’ Phil Mickelson gives under-the-radar reason LIV Golf will have long-term success

Phil Mickelson has always believed that LIV Golf will succeed. With the Saudi-funded breakaway league set to begin its fourth season next week under the lights in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the six-time major winner is even more convinced that LIV Golf is here to stay.

From the global schedule to the team aspect, Mickelson has touted several reasons why LIV will remain part of the professional golf landscape even after the merger between the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) and the PGA Tour is completed.

However, Mickelson believes LIV has staying power mainly because of what he believes is the key difference between their in-person fan experience and the PGA Tour’s.

“So there’s a lot of reasons why I believe LIV is going to be successful, but the number one reason would be something you wouldn’t think,” Mickelson told Joe Pompliano on “The Joe Pomp Show.” “That is this: It’s how you feel. This is where I’m going with this. You can identify if something is right for you or not based on how you feel. Am I anxious? Am I dreading something coming up? Or am I looking forward to it and excited? When you go to a PGA Tour event, it’s very uncomfortable for a parent to bring a child because you have to be quiet. ‘Shhh. OK, don’t move. Stop moving. Come over here and let’s get a view.’ You’re kind of hustling, and your kids are kind of tired. They are walking miles. The golf fan is the most loyal fan, walking miles. Paying for a ticket, walking miles and seeing a fraction of the action. It’s not like other sports where you buy a seat and you get to see 100 percent of the action and you don’t have to move. We have a very loyal fan base. But when you’re with kids, it’s very uncomfortable at a Tour event because you have a six-year-old or a young child, and you’re like, ‘OK, don’t talk right now. Come over here.’ Now they’ve walked and they are tired and they don’t have a place to go.”

Mickelson believes that LIV presents a more kid-friendly atmosphere, which will lead to people returning due to the positive experience.

“You go to a LIV event, you feel different,” Mickelson said. “Here’s why: You have music going when you’re out on the course. We don’t hear little people saying stuff. We don’t hear it. So you’re not as anxious about having your kids be quiet. There’s a fan zone like on the course where you can sit down, take a break, grab some drinks. It’s like a little hang. You can take a nap. They have a kid zone by the clubhouse where, again, you can take a nap, play putt-putt, play games for them and entertain them with a big screen so you can still see what’s going on with the golf. So when you go there, you feel calm. You feel comfortable. It’s like, ‘OK, our kids had a great time. I was relaxed. I wasn’t worried.’

“I think that’s the number one reason why LIV is going to be successful. Because when you go experience it, you walk away feeling different. You walk away feeling like, ‘Oh, I really enjoyed that. Let’s go back.’ Then, when you go to a Tour event, it’s like that was great but you are worn out and tired. Now, not many people will articulate that but they will feel it.”

Mickelson told Pompliano that he believes the golf world will continue to be fractured for some time, even after the merger is completed. He compared this to the upheaval that hit the music industry in the 2000s.

“I think it’s going to be a longer disruption period,” Mickelson said. “Yeah, we’re three of four years in, but it’s going to take a little while for this partnership to work out. It’s taken a while for them to come to an agreement. I think it’s going to take years for it to kind of play out. But when it’s all said and done, I think golf is going to be a better place. Because golf was really confined to the United States because of the PGA Tour. and it wasn’t being utilized globally and they didn’t have the resources and ability to make it global. Because LIV has come in and changed the model entirely.”

Mickelson believes that once this “transition period” is over, golf will become a more globally successful game with more room for growth.

While LIV Golf’s long-term future is unknown, the league just signed a media rights deal with FOX Sports. The new deal signals that LIV plans to be part of the professional golf world for some time, and Mickelson believes they’ll wind up being a permanent fixture no matter the outcome of the PGA-PIF merger.