Phil Mickelson believes the top performing LIV stars should be handed a chance to compete in majors as they continue to tumble down the world rankings.
The American is among the most high profile men to defect to the rebel series, funded by Saudi Arabia. Other leading names like Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson and Cameron Smith have also headed over, but they continue to battle against animosity and issues with the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) - which doesn't recognise LIV competitions when handing out ranking points.
It means the plethora of individuals involved have fallen down the order, which is used to pick fields for majors. Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley has said that the Masters will continue to use that method for 2024, claiming "it’s a good system".
That could leave LIV players in the lurch, but Mickelson, who finished second at Augusta earlier this month and has won the tournament three-times, believes a new method for qualifying has to be established if they continue to be shunned in the rankings.
He said: “We have to come up with a qualifying mechanism that is inclusive, and if the [OWGR] isn't going to be inclusive, then they have to find another way. Maybe they take the top five or top 10 [in LIV’s individual points standings], or winners on LIV?
"They're going to have to find a way to get the best LIV players in their field if they want to have the best field in golf and be what major championships are about. So they're already looking at that.”
The 52-year-old also went on to add: “It’s going to all iron itself out because if you’re one of the majors, if you’re the Masters, you’re not looking at we should be keeping these guys out. You are saying to yourself: We want to have the best field. We want to have the best players, and these guys added a lot to the tournament this year at the Masters. How do we get them included?”
The top 10 on LIV’s current points standings from their 2023 schedule are: Peter Uihlein, Charles Howell III, Talor Gooch, Carlos Ortiz, Patrick Reed, Sebastian Munoz, Koepka, Danny Lee, Brendan Steele and Dean Burmester.
Only a last day fightback from Jon Rahm prevented Koepka from claiming the Green Jacket, which would've been the first major victory involving a LIV player since it began luring players away from the PGA and DP World Tour.
Bubba Watson, who is part of the LIV series, and also a two-time Masters champion, has concurred with Mickelson's proposal. “If that means the PGA Tour gets 60 to 75 guys from their [tour] to be in every major, great," Watson said. "And if that means 10 to 15 of our guys, at the end of the year, whoever has the most points get in the majors, great. Forget World Ranking points, just who is the best in your tour and our league and go from there.”
