Will Phil Mickelson Get Relegated From LIV Golf? Exploring the Captains Under Drop Zone Threat
Is Phil Mickelson’s Time In LIV Golf Coming To An End? Can He Bounce Back From This Slump?
LIV Golf’s 2024 season-long standings will be closing at the end of the LIV Golf Individual Championship taking place in Chicago. This will decide the fate of many golfers, whether they will stay on the breakaway circuit for the 2025 season or will be relegated. LIV Golf’s season-long standings have three different zones; the players ranked 1st to 24th are guaranteed renewal of the contract for 2025 as they are in a lock zone, while those from 25th to 48th are in an open zone (they might get dropped by their teams and picked by another), and 49th to 54th are in the drop zone, meaning that they will be relegated.
Up until last season, LIV Golf noted that despite being in the drop zone, the captains and co-captains of the teams would not be eliminated from the league. However, this season, the rules have been changed. Golf Monthly reported that the disruptive league has confirmed that the captain in the drop zone would be relegated too. So will Phil Mickelson lose his spot on the LIV Golf for the next season? Mathematically, yes. Currently, Lefty is ranked 44th on the season-long standings and might seem far away from relegation.
However, as Mickelson has been performing consistently badly in the entire season, there are chances that his performance may not improve even at LIV Golf Chicago. And many young players may give their best to position themselves better on the standings. If it does happen, the 6-time major winner might lose his 2025 LIV Golf card. The 54-year-old had previously stated that he has been realistic with himself and if his game declined, he would leave the HyFylers GC by himself. But as he has equity in the team, he would still support his squad from outside the ropes.
Mickelson is at risk of being relegated from the league, but that does not mean he would stop supporting the breakaway circuit. Moreover, there are chances that because of the revenue basis, LIV may re-sign him even after the relegation as Lefty is a big entity for the league with a lot of fan following and they might not want to lose him soon. Nonetheless, as the relegation risk follows, Mickelson, there are two more captains in the same zone as Lefty and another who may surely get relegated.
2-time Masters winner to get relegated from LIV Golf
The co-captains of the Majesticks GC, Henrik Stenson and Ian Poulter, have found themselves ranked at 41st and 46th, respectively, on the LIV Golf Standings. And just as Phil Mickelson’s fate remains hanging by a thread, Stenson and Poulter may face a similar one. The two need to buckle up and play the highest level of golf to not be relegated from LIV. While these two might be stressed, it would be nothing compared to what Bubba Watson might be feeling.
The 2-time Masters winner is the lone captain in the drop zone of LIV Golf season standings at 52nd. And this confirms that Watson will be leaving the breakaway circuit starting the 2025 season. In all the 12 events played so far, the 45-year-old posted only one top 15 at LIV Golf Las Vegas, while he was outside the top 30 in all others. Watson once told his team that he would not be leaving them until they kicked him out, and now it seems that it will actually become a reality.
