Mickelson considering withdrawing from joint lawsuit against the PGA Tour

Phil Mickelson is considering withdrawing his name from a now LIV Golf backed lawsuit against the PGA Tour.

It is understood Mickelson is among 11 golfers who sued the PGA Tour in early August this year stating they had been improperly suspended from the Tour due to their connections with LIV Golf.

LIV Golf then joined the 11 players in the lawsuit on 27^th August.

“I haven’t done anything yet, but now that LIV is involved, it’s not necessary for me to be a part of it,” Mickelson said after playing in Thursday’s LIV Golf pro-am at Rich Harvest Farms.

“I currently still am [part of the lawsuit]. I don’t know what I’m really going to do. The only reason for me to stay in it is damages, which I don’t really want or need anything.”

If Mickelson does withdraw his name from the lawsuit he will join four others to have also pulled out of the lawsuit in Abraham Ancer, Pat Perez, Jason Kokrak and Carlos Ortiz.

The now 52-year six-time major winning Mickelson has been at the centre of the on-going fight between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour, with seemingly no immediate end in sight to the biggest controversy to engulf the men’s professional game.

Of course, Mickelson has been virtually on the back-foot in golf’s image department since he singled out the PGA Tour for their ‘obnoxious greed’ and then there were his remarks to golf writer Alan Shipnuck that saw him take a four-month absence from the game only to return to announce he’d signed with LIV.

“I do think that it’s important that players have the right to be able to play when and where they want and when and where they’ve qualified for,” added Mickelson.

“Now that LIV is a part of the lawsuit that will be accomplished if and when they win”.

The lawsuit against the Tour claims the Tour’s actions cost players such as Mickelson endorsement and sponsorship agreements.

“Notably, the Tour is the only golf tour shown regularly on broadcast television in the United States, and it earns vastly more in sponsorship, advertising, and broadcast revenue than any other golf tour’s” said the lawsuit.