His name is still on the Wall of Champions Colonial Country ClubBut it can also be read as, “he who shall not be named.”
Phil Mickelson is almost as welcome at PGA Tour events as the Covid restrictions.
Phil played for the last time in 2021, a week after winning the PGA Championship, mostly in favor of Charles Schwab, whose name adorns pga tour event in Fort Worth.
No player was more welcomed by the crowd at Colonial for more than 10 years than Mickelson, who won the tournament twice; Don’t expect to see Phil Do Schwab solid and play Hogan’s alley.
Instead of hitting Colonial this week, mickelson The LIV Golf Tournament is scheduled to be played at Trump National Golf Club in Washington DC this weekend.
The PGA Tour’s still relatively new event on the calendar this weekend goes head-to-head against the LIV Golf event.
Because LIV Golf is on the CW network and the PGA Tour is carried by CBS, this “matchup” won’t be much of a contest, but the biggest game within the LIV vs. Tour game.
Mickelson joining Liv GolfAlong with several other high-profile members of the PGA Tour, Trinity River doubled in size to create a divide that is felt all over the world, including Fort Worth.
This would be the first PGA Tour event at Colonial to “conflict” directly with LIV Golf, which started playing Under dispute in June of 2022. It is funded by the Saudi Arabian royal fund.
Along with Mickelson, two other players who would normally be in Fort Worth to play this weekend will be at Trump National in DC: Jason Kokerk and Kevin Na, both winners of Colonial but now with LIV Golf.
Other LIV players who will play most Colonials include Harold Warner III, Louis Oosthuizen and a few others who have played the tournament before.
“I would say it feels like it’s settled,” Charles Schwab Challenge defending champion Sam Burns said Wednesday of the LIV vs. PGA Tour debate. “I think the PGA Tour is one of the best places ever for the future of the game. I look forward to this season and next season with the new schedule.
As a direct result of LIV golf, the PGA Tour changed its schedule and the initial fear was that this would create two tours: Big Money, and The Others.
The PGA Tour’s 13 “elevated” or “designated” tournaments have purses of approximately $20 million. The Charles Schwab Challenge, which has a purse of $8.7 million, was not selected as a designated event.
According to sources, the PGA Tour approached organizers of Charles Schwab last year about its event being potentially “designated”. The investment company declined.
Achieving advanced status would require an additional $12 million, almost all of which would come from the title sponsor. Other tournaments also passed on this invitation.
PGA Tour representatives would say only that it went through an “education” process of the revised schedule with all of its tournaments last year before announcing the new format.
“Charles Schwab Corporation is honored to play a part in the tradition of this prestigious tournament in Fort Worth and demonstrates our commitment to the broader Metroplex community which includes the thousands of employees who live and work at our global headquarters in nearby Westlake are located,” Charles Schwab said in a statement to the Star-Telegram.
“We are very pleased with our event and feel we will continue to secure a great field for years to come, as demonstrated by another strong representation of the world’s best golfers this week. We are also very excited about the future of the Challenge as we look forward to the fully restored Colonial Country Club course next year under the leadership of renowned golf course architect Gil Haynes.
Given the way this season is shaping up on the PGA Tour, it’s easy to see why a title sponsor might be hesitant to spend the potential $12 – $15 million more for a single tournament.
There’s a chance that CS Challenge could make a bid to become a “designated” tournament next season, but nothing is imminent.
The initial idea was that the designated tournaments would attract the best fields, and affect both ticket sales and TV ratings.
In reality, at least with the 2023 CS Challenge, you’re still a very nice ground without that investment; This year’s field includes nine of the top 20 players on tour, along with Jordan Spieth, Scotty Scheffler and Victor Hovland.
“It’s a place a lot of people like to come here,” Burns said. “They enjoy the golf course. These kinds of tournaments have been around for a long time, and people have a lot of respect for it.
“I know it’s in the weird part of the schedule where the majors fall. I think going forward, people have a sense of respect for the event and they will prefer it to be here.
Some of these sound rhetorical, and they are. Most of it is true.
There are few golf names that are big enough outside the game to affect TV ratings or ticket sales. Would the 2023 Charles Schwab Challenge feel dramatically different if Rory McIlroy or Patrick Cantlay showed up?
Not many.
As Tiger Woods ages and plays less, and Mickelson alienates his loyal fan base by moving to LIV golf, the sport systematically hasn’t found a replacement for him.
Tiger can prove Halley’s Comet, only he comes more often than the golfer who stopped every single one to watch him golf. Tiger impresses in attendance, not Cameron Smith.
Hard core golf fans know Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson, both of whom play for LIV Golf, but their appearances at the PGA Championship this year had no effect on ratings; Despite the presence of a packed field, the event attracted Its lowest TV ratings since 2008,
Golf fans are golf fans. They fit in to watch a golf tournament featuring Jon Rahm because they are Jon Hamm.
LIV Golf is probably the biggest disruption the PGA Tour has ever seen, and its creation changed pro golf permanently.
LIV Golf has impressed Colonial and the Charles Schwab Challenge, but while it’s all settled, it’s not over.
Because no one knows who will win LIV vs The Tour in the end.
