Phil Mickelson Mad About "Collusion" in Official World Golf Ranking

Ranked at No. 425 in the world heading into The Masters, Phil Mickelson shot up all the way to No. 74 in the Official World Golf Ranking after finishing tied for second at Augusta last month. The points that Mickelson, who was once ranked No. 2 in the world, received from the OWGR for that effort were the first he’d gotten all year despite playing in multiple events.

The issue, of course, is that the majority of the events Mickelson has been playing in are LIV Golf tournaments, which are not recognized by the OWGR. In a series of posts on Twitter on Monday, the 52-year-old took issue with the OWGR’s stance and alleged that there is collusion going on to prevent LIV golfers from accumulating ranking points.

Colt. It is not our job. It is the owgr’s job to rank ALL the players in the world. Maybe they can do THEIR job and figure it out like they do for multiple tours with hundreds of players not even close to as good.But that would hurt the PGA’s revenue from CBS so the leaders won’t
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) May 1, 2023

Yes. THEIR JOB.
To rank ALL the players in the world as accurately as possible. There is no set criteria. Just guidelines and final say from the committee
(Who are colluding with the PGA Tour)
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) May 1, 2023

Respectfully,I don’t need OWGR points nor do I care about them for myself. I’m in 3 majors for the next 13+ years and all four majors through 2025. It’s about doing what’s right and calling out the collusion that’s taking place behind closed doors to help JM get all his tv money.
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) May 1, 2023

(The “JM” he references is PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan.)

It was addressed and it was made clear the heads of owgr would do everything in their power to shut LIV down by any and all means.
Curious why you think LIV is the ONLY tour NOT worthy of points despite so many great players? Because it’s a threat is not a valid reason.
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) May 1, 2023

Mickelson may have a point, as the PGA Tour and OWGR certainly have a relationship (the latter’s board is comprised of heads from the four major championships, the PGA and the DP World Tour) and at least one of those entities has a clear motive for wanting to keep LIV golfers as far down the the world leaderboard as possible. However, as was pointed out to him, Mickelson probably should have known he was trading his shot at accumulating OWGR points for mountains of money when he signed up with LIV Golf in the first place.

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Mickelson recently claimed the PGA Tour is “trending downwards”

Also, at least in Mickelson’s case, he may actually be fortunate that the OWGR is currently ignoring LIV golf finishes as his have not been all that great thus far since joining the upstart circuit. Last season, Mickelson finished no better than eighth place in an event and finished ranked No. 34 in LIV’s rankings. This season, Mickelson has finished 27th, 32nd, 41st, 16th and 15th. He’s currently ranked No. 35 amongst the 48 players on the LIV tour.