03 February 2023 , 09:51
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Phil Mickelson has stoked the fire in golf's ongoing civil war with the partisan claim that LIV Golf would 'dominate' the PGA Tour in a Ryder-Cup style clash.
LIV rebel Mickelson became the face of Greg Norman's insurgent new enterprise when he jumped ship for the Saudi millions last year. The 52-year-old damaged his reputation with inflammatory comments on his controversial LIV defection and the human rights issues concerning the Kingdom who bankrolled his move.
And 'Lefty' has raised eyebrows once again with his latest bold assertion after increasing his social media activity ahead of the start of the 2023 LIV season.
The bitter divide between two factions in the sport has led some fans, including @flushingitgolf, to hypothesise how a competition between LIV and the PGA Tour would unfold.
The golf fan account suggested a match with long-term rivals Mickelson and Tiger Woods as playing captains 'would be the most watched golf event in history.' And retired NFL running back Danny Woodhead agreed: "Easily! And im here for it!"
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Mickelson, however, shut down any chances of the match taking place with the brazen suggestion that a non-contest would not be beneficial for the TV rights holders.
"It sounds great,but we would dominate them so soundly and it would be over so quick that tv would have to fill an hour of dead time," Mickelson said. "That's why it's not happening at this time."
Mickelson believes LIV would 'dominate' the PGA Tour (Getty Images)Rory McIlroy and Patrick Reed provided a taste of what a LIV-PGA Tour battle could be like in their dramatic showdown at the Dubai Desert Classic last week.
Cameron Smith, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka would likely head a theoretical LIV team, with McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler leading the way on the PGA Tour.
And when it was suggested to Mickelson on Twitter that PGA Tour players may have an advantage because they dominate the top 100 in the world rankings, the American quickly snapped back.
Rivals McIlroy and Reed gave a taster for a LIV-PGA Tour match in Dubai (Getty Images)"That’s probably because the head of golf’s governing bodies run the owgr and have colluded to exclude LIV players from getting points," he said. "I’m not a fake media believer but if I was, this would be the perfect example."
LIV's access to ranking points is a huge bone of contention for LIV firebrand Norman in his bid to validate the disruptive tour.
The circuit submitted an application to the Official World Golf Ranking board last July but a decision is still yet to be announced.