Phil Mickelson, other LIV captains laud ‘career-defining’ Major championships despite leaving PGA Tour

Phil Mickelson and other LIV Golf team captains recently weighed in on playing at the Majors. The first Major of the year, The Masters, is just around the corner. Before that, the Saudi league players will be playing in Miami this week.

During a pre-tournament press conference held on April 2, HyFlyers GC captain Phil Mickelson opened up about playing at the Majors despite leaving the PGA Tour. He talked about the importance of these events, calling them career-defining.

Mickelson said (via ASAP Sports):

"It would be easy to say that it does (take on more importance), but in actuality, they've always had that importance heading in because those are what define a career, and those events have always had that extra incentive or elevation or status, and so it would certainly be easy to say that, but in actuality, when I was playing the PGA Tour, it still had that extra meaning, I would say."

Sergio Garcia also reflected on the importance of the Majors, saying (via ASAP Sports):

"I've come to realize that every time I'm in one of those Majors that I have to not only give everything that I have, which I always do, but I also make sure that I enjoy it as much as possible because you never know when it's going to be your last one."

Meanwhile, the winner of the 2023 Masters and Legion XIII captain Jon Rahm, called the Majors the 'pinnacle' of golf. He said:

"It's hard to make any of the Majors matter even more. It's the pinnacle of our sport, and like Phil said, they define a career. It's hard to make it more than that."

There are a total of four Men's Majors — the Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open, and The Open Championship. LIV golfers, however, struggle to qualify for these events as they do not earn ranking points. However, because of some categories, a few of them still make it to the events. This year, at the Masters, 12 LIV golfers secured their spots in the stellar field.

Is Phil Mickelson playing at the Masters 2025?

Phil Mickelson has a lifetime exemption to play at The Masters as he has won the event three times in his career. Despite being banned from the PGA Tour, he can still play at The Masters. Apart from him, Sergio Garcia and Jon Rahm also have lifetime exemptions for The Masters as former winners of the tournament.

Here is the list of LIV golfers playing at the Masters 2025:

Bryson DeChambeau
Sergio Garcia
Tyrrell Hatton
Dustin Johnson
Brooks Koepka
Phil Mickelson
Joaquin Niemann
Jon Rahm
Patrick Reed
Charl Schwartzel
Cameron Smith
Bubba Watson

The 2025 Masters will start with its first round next Thursday, April 10, and will wrap up with its fourth and final round on Sunday, April 13, at the Augusta National Golf Course.