Phil Mickelson, the six-time major champion with one of golf’s great CVs, hopes his lasting legacy is his association with LIV Golf.

Mickelson made the claim during LIV’s ‘Fairway to Heaven’ podcast, recorded during last week’s event in Nashville.

The 53-year-old, who won 45 events on the PGA Tour, is missing only the US Open from his major trophy cabinet and will forever remain one of golf’s most fascinating figures.

But now that his garlanded career is ‘toward its end’, Mickelson has been in more reflective mood.

Over the past two years, he has been at the centre of the storm that surrounded LIV’s disruptive emergence into elite professional golf, competing on the Saudi-backed circuit since its inception back in July 2022.

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“I knew the first two years were going to be rough – and here we are, two years in now, and it’s totally different,”Mickelson said. “We’re having a blast here. We’re having so much fun.”

When asked by co-host Jerry Foltz what will he remembered for, Mickelson added: “Well, I mean I think hopefully LIV Golf and helping get the game to a younger crowd, helping get the game to younger players and giving them infrastructure to become great, helping to grow the game on a global basis. Like, all the things LIV Golf is doing. I feel very connected to the success.”

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Mickelson believes his impact in helping LIV reach new global audiences will define his time in golf, pointing to the PGA Tour’s changes in response to the rival circuit’s threat.

“I sure hope so,” he said whether his legacy will be connected to LIV. “Because it wasn’t an option — like elevated events and equity in the tour wasn’t an option for the guys that came to LIV. And so the fact that we are invested and involved and integrated into the success of LIV — and I’m happy for the guys on the Tour that they now have all that stuff because they should.

“But where we’re at, we’re attracting a different crowd. And we’re attracting a global crowd. And that’s critical to the long-term success of the game. And it’s something that the old model of the Tour would never transcend into because you couldn’t get all the guys to go travel the world and play over there and again attract players that don’t play the game of golf to want to watch.

“I think LIV Golf is doing that and I’m hopeful that my connection with LIV and hopeful the success of LIV will be what I’m known for.”