When Phil Mickelson teed it up in his first LIV Golf event in June 2022, the golf world instantly split into two. Those who believed he was reinventing his career, and those who felt he was risking the legacy he built across six majors. But beyond the noise, one question matters most: how did he actually perform in the majors after switching to LIV, and how much did he earn during that period? Let’s break it down.

Once Mickelson officially joined LIV, the remainder of the 2021–22 season featured two major starts, both coming after his debut in the LIV London event. Right after his LIV debut, Mickelson returned to the major stage at Brookline. But this was not vintage Lefty. He shot 78–73, finishing 144th and missing the cut by a wide margin in the 2022 U.S. Open.

This marked one of the toughest major showings of his post-LIV stretch, and he later admitted that his early LIV months included some of the worst scoring of his career. Then came, ‘The Open Championship’ of 2022. At St Andrews, the results improved slightly but remained far from contention. Mickelson finished T70, never threatening the leaderboard and closing out the season without a single major top-50 after joining LIV.

But following months of controversy, he skipped the 2022 Masters, ending a decades-long streak of appearances at Augusta. Not only did he miss the Masters, but he also did not defend his historic 2021 PGA title, marking one of the most unexpected absences of the season. But 2023 had a different start. At the 2023 Masters, he delivered a surprise T2 with Brooks Koepka, with a score of (-8), shooting a final-round 65 that briefly put him in contention and marked his strongest major finish since the move. 

Everything after that told a different story. From 2023 through 2025, his major results shifted back to inconsistency, missed cuts in multiple starts, and low finishes in both the U.S. Open and The Open. He stayed in the fields, but he wasn’t close to competing for titles. And that’s where the contrast is clear, that his earnings tell a very different story.

Phil Mickelson’s Earnings Since Joining LIV Golf

When Mickelson joined LIV Golf in mid-2022, the financial logic was unmistakable: he might trade fewer PGA Tour starts, but his paydays would be upfront and substantial. According to Spotrac, his official LIV earnings read $1,373,850 for 2022, followed by $2,585,750 in 2023, and $2,024,915 so far in 2024. Whereas 2025 earnings have reached $4,476,144.

These numbers cover individual payouts; they don’t include the massive guaranteed contract he reportedly secured for joining LIV, estimated at more than $100 million. In short, Mickelson shifted from relying purely on tournament prize money to a model where guarantee + LIV payouts form the financial foundation. The results? On-course finishes matter less when the headline income arrives before the shot is struck.

Written by

Dolly Bhamrick

Edited by

Joyita Das