LIV Golf Defector Phil Mickelson Provides a Unique ‘Kerry Packer’ Analogy to Describe the Importance of the Rival League to the Golf World

Phil Mickelson has juggled around with questions regarding the LIV Golf Series and its immediate future. While the governing bodies of the existing associations seem to have come to a standstill, ‘Lefty’ has been quite vocal in his opinions.

Recently, the 52-year-old provided a unique analogy. He compared LIV Golf’s position to Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket, held in Australia in the 70s.

Phil Mickelson draws comparisons between LIV Golf and Packer’s WSC

In the pre-match press conference of LIV Golf Invitational’s Jeddah event, Mickelson spoke on a wide range of topics. He started with his recent upsurge in performances and also spoke about a brand-new henna tattoo. But when asked about how LIV Golf has changed the landscape of the sport, Mickelson drew parallels with Kerry Packer’s now-defunct World Series Cricket.

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“Well, it [LIV] evolved a lot and will continue to evolve over time. There were a lot of opportunities that were left open for somebody to come in and do this.”

“If you look back into the ’70s, what happened with cricket is probably the best analogy,” he said.

Mickelson: Kerry Packer’s arrival ‘totally changed’ the sport

Mickelson spoke at length about his understanding of that situation. He opined on how it ended up bolstering the welfare of future cricket players.

“I didn’t grow up with cricket, but I am becoming somewhat aware of what Kerry Packer did to evolve cricket and to pay professional cricket players a reasonable fee,” he said.

“I think they were making two hundred dollars a game back in the ’70s and they weren’t getting paid and there wasn’t television rights and they were all having to have jobs. And yet there was still money coming in.”

The California-born then went on to describe Packer’s influence and its merits towards the game. “And when Kerry Packer came and got involved and started paying them what they were worth and what they were bringing in, it totally changed. And we’re seeing that happen now,” he explained.

The World Series Cricket was an unofficial cricket event played between 1977 and 1979. It featured some of the best cricketers of that generation. It was headed by Australian media tycoon Kerry Packer and broadcasted on his television channel, Nine Network.

While WSC couldn’t sustain a long run, it brought in a series of lucrative changes to the age-old sport. Amidst the high-end contracts, it also featured colored clothing, protective helmets, field restrictions, and cricket under lights for the first time.

Phil Mickelson will be next seen at the LIV Golf Series’ Jeddah event at the weekend. Will he be able to replicate his resurgent form in the Middle East? Comment down below.

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