Phil Mickelson admits LIV Golf could make major change to answer Jon Rahm demand after 'bad' round

Phil Mickelson has admitted LIV Golf could make a major change to the way tournaments are run, and could start playing 72 holes rather than 54.

If the move was made, it could open up the door for the Saudi Arabia-funded breakaway series to finally be rewarded with OGWR (Official Golf World Ranking) points. And speaking after his final round at the Masters, Mickelson admitted he wouldn’t be surprised if decision-makers decided to make the move this season.

Mickelson said: “Every competitive round is an opportunity to play well and compete. I don’t think it makes a difference either way. We’ve got mini-tours playing 54, Champions Tour playing 54. I wouldn’t be surprised if some or all of LIV events went to 72. I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter. I enjoy the competition.”

Going into the tournament there had been questions over whether defending champion Rahm was going to be well prepared for the tournament, but the Spaniard insisted he felt good.

The Spaniard made the cut by a single shot but the world No.3 reckoned the conditions during the windswept third were “borderline” and thought play should have been suspended.

And the Spanish superstar admitted twas a “sour feeling” not to be in contention to retain his Masters title and his game is “a little lost”.

Phil Mickelson has admitted LIV Golf events could become 72 holes in the near future

After his final round saw him finish on nine-over par, Rahm admitted: “It’s harder to talk about the positives of being the defending champion when I’ve played this bad.

“It’s been nice to have some receptions walking up to some tees no matter what my score was and seeing the appreciation. But when you don’t have your best week, it’s hard to have to stay now to put the jacket on somebody else and never really ever have a chance.

“There’s a lot of things that contributed to me not having my best week, and one of them I think was obviously on the greens, which is not easy. Never really had the pace of the greens, and a couple too many three-putts. That’s the easiest way to fix it, but that’s, I think, very subjective to this golf course and the conditions we’re playing on.”

Jon Rahm has called for LIV events to be 72 holes

Speaking about LIV events going to 72 holes, Rahm said: “If there ever was a way where LIV could go to 72 holes, I think it would help all of this argument a lot.

“The closer I think we can get LIV Golf to some other things the better. I think it would be for some kind of unification to feed into a world tour or something like that. I don’t know if I’m alone in this, but I definitely wouldn’t mind going back to 72 holes.”

Moving to 72 holes could have dramatic implications for the league’s quest to get OWGR points, considering one of the biggest criticisms has been the limited number of holes per tournament.