Sports Illustrated has ranked one of Phil Mickelson’s own tweets among the ten saddest moments in LIV Golf’s four-year history.
The dig lands as LIV Golf closes out what could be the final season of its existence, with Mickelson barely present all year and the league’s finances collapsing as its marquee star stays away amid a series of scandals and a family health crisis.
Mickelson’s 2023 Post Among LIV Golf’s ‘Saddest’ Moments
The listicle-style article, published Friday by Sports Illustrated writer Andy Nesbitt, resurfaces an October 2023 exchange between Mickelson and Masters champion Trevor Immelman over the LIV league’s long-stalled pursuit of Official World Golf Ranking points. Mickelson jumped into the thread insisting LIV would never get points because of monopoly rules, television contract obligations and negotiating leverage, then escalated when a critic told him to stop whining.
“Stating facts isn’t whining and I don’t care if LIV ever gets points. This is move 6 in a long game of chess,” Mickelson wrote in his October 12, 2023 post. “You won’t believe moves 32-37. That’s when it gets REALLY good.” He capped the reply with a sunglasses emoji.
Three years later, Sports Illustrated ripped the post for its stunning lack of foresight and self-awareness.
“Mickelson has had a lot of bad tweets over the years but this one from 2023 in which he bragged about LIV Golf’s strategy for the long game is quite laughable considering where the league stands right now,” wrote Nesbitt for SI.com. “Turns out it never gets ‘REALLY good’ for LIV Golf.”
The post lands alongside other entries on the “saddest moments” list, including Bryson DeChambeau’s viral tumble over a rope at LIV Golf Chicago in 2022, and Mickelson’s 2024 LIV Hong Kong first round, when he opened with a last-place 80 including three double bogeys, four bogeys, and zero birdies.
Mickelson’s LIV Golf Absence Amid Financial Crisis
Mickelson has played exactly one LIV event in 2026, a tie for 48th at LIV Golf South Africa in March. He withdrew from the season-opening events and eventually sat out all four majors for the first time in his professional career, citing what he and representatives have repeatedly called a family health matter, according to Golf Digest‘s reporting. He pulled out of the Masters in April, skipped the PGA Championship and wasn’t extended a special invite to the U.S. Open before missing the Open Championship as well.
His absence has stretched into the fall, with teammates on his HyFlyers GC squad leaning on replacement Scott Vincent. Brendan Steele has said the group still wants Mickelson back but has few details on when he might return to action.
Mickelson has not addressed LIV Golf’s financial unraveling in any public comments located in current reporting. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is cutting off the league’s backing after the 2026 season, and organizers scrapped the planned Michigan finale, leaving this week’s stop in Indianapolis as the de facto end of the year, according to a separate Golf Digest report.
Mickelson is again absent.
The league’s cash troubles run beyond the funding cutoff. LIV has already signaled it could file for bankruptcy, and it faces a lawsuit from the rival Premier Golf League alleging breach of confidence, on top of vendors still waiting on payment from past events. Agents for several LIV players have quietly reached out to the PGA Tour and DP World Tour about paths back, a scenario that accelerates if bankruptcy frees players from contracts.
This weekend’s field of 57 players will settle the individual season title, the Indianapolis championship and the team standings across four days at The Club at Chatham Hills. Whether the tournament marks LIV Golf’s actual end or simply the last stop of a shrinking chapter remains unresolved. Mickelson, once the league’s most visible recruiter, has watched most of that fight play out from somewhere far under the radar.
Phil Mickelson Ripped as ‘Laughable’ Over Resurfaced LIV Golf Post