Phil Mickelson has spent 35 years building one of the most beloved brands in professional golf. Six major championships. A charisma that made him appointment television for three decades. A reputation as the ultimate fan’s player, always willing to sign autographs, always smiling, always pulling off the shot nobody else would attempt. It was a legacy that should have been bulletproof.
He found a way to put bullets in it anyway.
With LIV Golf now functionally finished after Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund confirmed it is pulling its funding after the 2026 season, Mickelson finds himself at the end of a four-year journey that has cost him sponsors, peers, reputation, and quite possibly his standing in the game he defined for a generation. The implosion of the tour he championed more loudly than anyone is the latest, and perhaps final, chapter in a story that went wrong almost from the first word.
Phil wanted leverage against the PGA Tour and so he got into bed with the Saudis. Along the way he made a bunch of stupid comments and lost sponsors. But stupid comments are part of Phil’s DNA, and now this beloved ex-champ is a punchline.
