Phil Mickelson and other LIV Golfers eligible to compete in British Open at Royal Liverpool
Phil Mickelson and his LIV Golf cohorts, such as Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson and Cameron Smith, can participate in the British Open.
In a not-so-surprising move, the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews just recently announced officially that LIV golfers will be eligible for this year's British Open at Royal Liverpool.
As has been the case with every other major tournament or regular tournament that's made this decision, LIV Golf members aren't just invited. They still have to qualify.
Most of the qualifications have stayed the same, which is why they can make it. This is helpful since the OWGR leaderboard doesn't count their results in LIV, which means they can't move up and potentially into the section they'd need to be in to qualify.
That does limit the options, but there are still plenty of ways for LIV stars to get into major tournaments now.
This follows the path set by the Masters and the Open Championship. They both decided not to ban LIV Golf members like Phil Mickelson. However, the PGA Championship remains in question.
According to Yahoo! Sports, PGA of America Championship Director Bryan Karns said:
“There’s still a lot up in the air on that front... There’s a lot going on behind the scenes to sort of evaluate this. Probably late spring, prior to the championship, maybe in the last 30 days, there’ll be some sort of announcement about what that looks like.”
He also previously mentioned that those who choose to defect are potentially risking their spot in a future PGA Championship, so it certainly doesn't look good on that front for Phil Mickelson and company.
Phil Mickelson believes he can win another major
Phil Mickelson is on LIV Golf, which makes it that much more difficult to participate in any PGA Tour event. Nevertheless, he said he feels like he can still win a major:
"I’m just putting last year out of my mind and disengaging. A lot of stuff happened, and I’m refocused on today and starting the year. I’m in every major for the next three years and I think I have a chance to win one or two more and create these accomplishments that haven’t been done at this stage. I feel like I can duplicate Kiawah."
With the Masters, the British Open and others allowing him to participate, it's certainly possible. However, he's not even the best LIV golfer who could participate, so it's still an uphill battle to win one.
Mickelson also knows he may never participate in anything related to the PGA Tour again, and he's not worried about that:
"If I were never to play another PGA Tour event, I’m totally at peace with it. But I believe by next year I’ll have the opportunity if I want. I don’t know if I’ll have the time. I’m playing 19 events and don’t know how much more. I’d actually rather scale down the number of tournaments, because I’m also in the four majors."
Phil Mickelson may not be around much longer, so this year on, either the Masters or something else might be his last shot at a major.