As the golf world prepares for the 2024 season, the much-talked-about LIV Golf League has been progressing ahead with its promotions’ tournament at the Abu Dhabi Golf Course. The top three winners of this event are set to win membership in the upcoming season of the Saudi-backed golf giant.

James Piot of the HyFlyers GC was one of the contenders in this race to earn a full-time spot in the 2024 edition of the league. However, a recently revealed roster of the playing field for the final round has revealed that Piot has been left out of the race for membership, leaving Phil Mickelson in a dilemma.

As the LIV Golf Promotions progress, new possibilities seem to line up. The event is huge step towards higher acceptance for the golf league in its infancy stage. This is because big names from the PGA Tour as well as the DP World Tour have lined up in the quest to find a spot in its upcoming season. However, James Piot’s destiny at the tournament did not rule in his favor, resulting in the 25-year-old saying goodbye to the 2024 season.

The Michigan-based professional golfer joined LIV Golf in 2022. He has been a part of Phil Mickelson’s HyFlyers GC throughout the last season. However, his inability to make it back this season has led to a personnel search for Lefty.

It is still a matter of mystery as to who will be the lucky three golfers to earn the highly coveted membership card for the coming season. Unlike Phil Mickelson, the release of the top 20 progressing into the finals has put Cameron Smith in a somewhat relaxed state. This is because his former teammate, Jediah Morgan, has made it onto the list and can potentially fill one spot on his team.

Amidst the ongoing big trades that have occurred ahead of the LIV Golf 2024 season, surely anything is possible. One such unexpected big change was Jon Rahm’s shift to LIV Golf after signing a $600 million contract. On its way toward greater prominence, the roster for the final round of the new-age LIV Golf’s adaptation of Q-School has all eyes set on it.

Delving deeper into the playing field for Sunday

LIV Golf’s attempt to rise above its formerly famous closeted identity has manifested itself in the promotion tournaments. As the promotions go on in full swing, the PGA Tour’s former rival is now on the last string to declare the names of the top golfers who will make it to their upcoming season.

The list of the top 20 players who are set to play in the third and final round has surfaced. They will be playing on a 36-hole field with extreme precision. Here is the playing field for the deciding round:

Who do you think will secure their spots on LIV Golf’s 2024 roster? Share your views in the comments section below.

Phil Mickelson took to social media to call out the PGA Tour commissioner, Jay Monahan, to leave his coveted seat, blaming him for not listening to him prior to his sudden and unplanned move to LIV, because he had asked Monahan plenty of times to bring bigger investors for better events with elevated prize purses. But Monahan paid no heed to his pleas.

Phil Mickelsom highlighted that the commissioner lost the faith of the golfers because the signing of the merger between the PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and the DP World Tour was carried out under the table. Even Tiger Woods reflected on his frustrations on this matter.

Like Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods Visibly Frustrated Over PGA-LIV Future

Woods, in a press conference post round one of the Hero World Challenge, talked about how the signing of the agreement was a shock to the players, and his inclusion in the management was a dire need of the hour.

While Phil Mickelson has lost faith in Monahan for his doings, Woods still chooses to believe him. “I did have faith in Jay and in what he could do going forward”. He concluded the interview by saying that whatever happened in the past cannot be repeated, and he will make sure that it never happens again.

It is unlikely that Monahan will be replaced before the PGA Tour gets financial backing for the next year. Either it would be LIV or some other contributor. For now, despite Monahan’s assurances, it seems unlikely that the framework agreement will be finazlized before December 31st.

Rumors have been swirling this week that Jay Monahan will be out as PGA Tour commissioner when the Tour’s merger with the Saudi PIF and potentially other investors is finalized. Phil Mickelson believes those rumors need to become reality for the sake of the Tour and professional golf as a whole.

Mickelson, the six-time major winner who bolted from the Tour to help launch LIV Golf, has made it clear over the last two-plus years that he’s very much not on Team Monahan.

Much of Mickelson’s rebellion against the Tour is focused on the commissioner given his power and his lack of change (deepening the pockets of players) until the Saudi-backed circuit came along and forced the PGA Tour to do so.

The post on X, formerly Twitter, that caught the lefty’s attention came from Bob “Golf” Ball. The lengthy post from Ball, a real estate developer from Oregon, began with the statement “Jay Monahan is out as commissioner of the PGA Tour” before referencing Joel Schuchmann, the Senior VP of Communications for the PGA Tour, calling for Monahan’s job.

This led Mickelson to state that there is no path forward with Monahan as commissioner.

As for the validity behind Ball’s post, he followed it up with another one of a screenshot of a since-deleted re-post from Schuchmann. It’s a post from Pro Golf Critic calling for the resignation of Monahan and others.

Phil Mickelson’s Word Has No Juice

Ball’s post may have truth behind it, or it may have none at all. Nobody has reported that Monahan will step down or be fired following the agreement of the merger. Nobody has even seriously reported that that’s an option on the table.

What does have truth behind it is Mickelson’s opinion on Monahan has no, or at least shouldn’t have, any bearing on Monahan’s job status. Mickelson is removed from the Tour entirely, and based on the framework of the proposed merger, the commissioner will still have the head seat at the table of professional golf.

While many would say that Mickelson has gone from a villain to somewhat of a savior for professional golf over the last three or so years, it’s tough to spin him jumping on what appears to be nothing but a random rumor calling for Monahan’s job as a win or even a good look for himself.