Phil Mickelson Talks About LIV Being An 'Added Value To Golf Ecosystem'

LIV Golf has a new broadcast deal with Fox and one of the faces of the upstart league, golf great Phil Mickelson made an appearance on Fox Business' The Claman Countdown to talk about the series and what it brings to the sport.

Host Liz Claman asked Mickelson about what LIV's message to the golf world with its multi-year broadcast deal and unique style of play designed to appeal to younger audiences.

Mickelson said that the tour was simply adding to the sport, seemingly downplaying any apparent rivalry with any others.

"So we're trying to become an added value to the golf ecosystem, let's say, and as the old model was not getting the younger players involved," Mickelson said. "It wasn't a global model. I mean, we're the first global sports model for golf, and we're able to bring the best players, best teams throughout the world.

"We're all additive," Mickelson continued. "We're only [playing] 14 weeks a year, there's 38 other weeks of golf. We're all in this together. 

"We want to grow the fan base. We want to grow the game throughout the world and the United States."

Mickelson went on to commend the PGA Tour for what it has done for the sport but noted that the PGA Tour doesn't have the greatest global reach since it is centered around the United States.

The three-time Masters champ also talked about how LIV is designed to cater to the younger generation of fans, a group that has historically been overlooked or been difficult for the sport to crack into.

"We're much younger and different demographics that we're trying to hit, and we're trying to make the fan experience on-site much more enjoyable, so we're additive rather than, let's say, competitive."

The LIV Golf season gets underway February 6 through 8 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.