Phil Mickelson makes major claim after best LIV finish

It was throwback Sunday at LIV Golf Hong Kong this weekend. 

Not only did a 45-year-old Sergio Garcia storm to the title at Hong Kong Golf Club to boost his Ryder Cup hopes, Phil Mickelson also enjoyed somewhat of a resurgence to record his best LIV finish to date.

Mickelson – ultimately outdone by Garcia’s sublime final round – put together his best finish on the Saudi-backed breakaway league yet as he finished four shots behind the Spaniard in solo third.

Perhaps most surprisingly, the six-time major champion’s uplifting performance in Fanling came on a tight, 6,700 yard course that would not traditionally suit his eye.

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That can be attributed to a significant change in approach that the 54-year-old adopted in the off-season, after another campaign languishing around the bottom of LIV leaderboards.

“The last couple years I’ve been kind of fighting it, meaning I’ve been playing not inside myself, trying to overpower a course where I don’t have the speed like the guys with 190 [ball speed],” Mickelson said on Friday.

“This offseason I thought, alright, I’ve got to find another way. I’ve got to find another way to shoot scores and try to beat these guys.”

In Hong Kong, the signs were promising.

Rounds of 67-65-64 provided a boost to Mickelson, and with the Masters just around the corner, he still believes he can win a seventh major title.

“The fact is I’m hitting a lot of good shots,” he said in his post-round interview. “I’m playing some good golf, and this is a building week as I continue to build into LIV and my goal of accomplishing a win in LIV as well as winning another major, getting ready for Augusta.”

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Mickelson, of course, is already the oldest major champion in history after lifting the PGA Championship aged 50 at Kiawah Island in 2021.

It is improbable he could repeat that feat again four years on, but if the miracle did happen, Augusta feels like the place.

The three-time Masters champion proved in 2023 with his runner-up finish that he does not need to show consistency to enjoy success on the famed Georgia course in his twilight years.

“My game is getting sharp,” Mickelson stressed. “My short game is back. I had a rough couple of years. My short game is really sharp now. My iron play is back, and my game is starting to really come around, and I’m also playing differently.

“I’m playing a lot less stressed, and it’s coming.”

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.