Billy Horschel discusses Phil Mickelson's potential return to the PGA Tour if LIV Golf collapses due to lack of funding. The future of LIV Golf is uncertain as it may lose financial support after this season.
Key points
Billy Horschel discusses Phil Mickelson's future
LIV Golf may lose financial backing after this season
Players may need to find alternative tours
Phil Mickelson's return to PGA Tour is uncertain
Mentioned in this story
Billy HorschelPhil MickelsonLIV GolfSaudi Arabia's PIF
Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images
Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images
Phil Mickelson’s future in the professional game is completely up in the air right now.
LIV Golf will not have the financial backing of Saudi Arabia’s PIF after the end of the current season.
If the league fails to secure funding from elsewhere, many of their players may face the prospect of having to find alternative tours to play on.
Phil Mickelson has actually only appeared in one LIV Golf event this season, due to a highly-publicized family health matter.
Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images
Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images
However, the 55-year-old is still one of the leading figures on the circuit, so it is understandable that speculation about his future in the game is rife.
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Billy Horschel says whether he thinks Phil Mickelson will return to the PGA Tour
Some golf fans believe Mickelson could call it a day and retire from playing competitively if LIV does indeed fold.
Could that really happen, though? Or could he attempt to make his way back to the PGA Tour?
Horschel made an appearance on the Sky Sports Golf Podcast on Monday and responded when asked whether he believes Mickelson will have a route back to the PGA Tour if LIV is no more from 2027 onwards.
“I think the three guys that had the opportunity to take the deal that Brooks did, I think they are going to find that the deal they are going to get possibly from the PGA Tour is not going to be the same deal,“ Horschel predicted.
*“*It’s going to be probably a little bit worse. In the sense that maybe it will be a little bit more money and there may be some other stipulations in terms of playing opportunities and playing rights.
*“*It’s no different than when you are selling a house or buying a house. If you have a price and a person doesn’t agree, when they come back, that offer is not on the table, that offer is going to change a bit.
*“*That is what I would think the PGA Tour going forward with those three, if they do offer something, it’s going to be a different offer.
Photo by Oisin Keniry/R&A/R&A via Getty Images
Photo by Oisin Keniry/R&A/R&A via Getty Images
*“*I think when it pertains to the other players, I don’t think anyone else besides those three guys have PGA Tour eligibility access in terms of being winners and still having eligibility.
*“*I don’t know what is going to happen. I think there will be some form of a road for a lot of these guys and I think some of these guys may not have a road.
*“*I don’t see a road for Phil Mickelson back to the PGA Tour, even though he’s a lifetime member and he’s done a lot, I think there is a lot of stuff that he said he did and certain things behind the scenes before LIV came about that mean it’s just not going to work out for him.
“And I don’t think he wants to come back to the PGA Tour or maybe even the Champions Tour.“
Billy Horschel on LIV Golf’s future
Horschel has given his opinion on what the future may look like for LIV Golf.
“I think I said it back in 2022 at the Scottish Open, I felt in a five year window there would be a reckoning where the PGA Tour and LIV would come together. Obviously that is not going to happen.“ Horschel admitted.
*“*I felt like with the money that they were spending, I didn’t see a return on their investment.
*“*They came out and said that we were the future of the game of golf and what the game of golf will be for the foreseeable future and where everyone is going to want to be.
*“*At the end of the day it was not that way. The PGA Tour and DP World Tour have such history and golf is such an individual sport.
“I am not saying there is not a spot for team golf, but I’m not sure I really saw a route of success financially for the Saudis of doing this. I just thought at some point they would realise they were burning money and reverse course and decide to do something else.“
