Phil Mickelson Reacts to LIV Golf’s World Ranking Points Denial: ‘It’s a Monopoly’

Phil Mickelson has spoken out about the Official World Golf Ranking denying LIV Golf ranking points. A number of LIV members have expressed their frustration with the decision—including Bryson DeChambeau—and Mickelson took to social media to share his own thoughts.

Mickelson made his comments on X (formerly Twitter) in reply to a fellow Masters champion, Trevor Immelman, whose original post read: “If I were going to start a pro golf tour, and I decided that I wanted my tour to have world ranking points available for the players, I’d probably at the outset make sure that my tour did whatever the world ranking organization required in order to comply.” 

Mickelson responded by calling the OWGR a “monopoly” and claiming that the decision on LIV Golf was not motivated by the league’s format, but rather the PGA Tour’s desire to hit the benchmarks in their TV contracts. 

Here are Mickelson’s full comments: 

According to more replies from the LIV golfer, Mickelson also believes that the four major championships are “protecting themselves” from players demanding higher revenue percentages at the lucrative tournaments in the future. 

When one commenter asked if LIV Golf’s 54-hole no-cut format led to the OWGR’s decision, Mickelson wrote: “Nope. That’s just their public excuse so they can protect each. A lot of people believe it too. Can’t blame them though cuz people like you simply don’t have all the facts. That’s why I’m sharing them with you now. You’re welcome.”

This is not the first time Mickelson has openly criticized the Official World Ranking, and it doesn’t look like it will be the last. In another comment, Mickelson responded to a user who told him to “stop whining” and he made that abundantly clear: “Stating facts isn’t whining and I don’t care if LIV ever gets points. This is move 6 in a long game of chess. You won’t believe moves 32-37. That’s when it gets REALLY good.” 

LIV’s final regular-season event will be played this weekend in Jeddah, from Oct. 13-15.