Court filings detail $6 million in LIV Golf contract payments to Phil Mickelson despite one 2026 start

A newly public set of LIV Golf bankruptcy disclosures has brought Phil Mickelson's contractual compensation into focus. Filings made public on October 22 list five payments associated with the six-time major champion totaling $6,000,254.56 between October 2025 and July 2026. Mickelson, however, made just one LIV tournament start during the 2026 season.

The recipient is identified in the records as Pershing LLC Player, an entity associated with Mickelson. Each transfer is described as a PPA payment, referring to a Player Participation Agreement rather than prize money awarded for a tournament finish. The breakdown reported from the filing is $1,232,933.14 on October 10, 2025; $1,236,607.14 on January 12, 2026; $1,057,500 on March 13; and $1,236,607.14 on both April 16 and July 14. The four transfers made in calendar year 2026 total approximately $4.77 million.

That financial record contrasts with a limited competitive schedule. After missing LIV's first four tournaments in 2026 amid a family health matter, Mickelson appeared at LIV Golf South Africa on March 19–22. He finished seven under par, tied for 48th, and had not made another LIV start by the time the disclosures emerged.

It would be inaccurate to describe the reported $6 million as prize money earned from that single appearance. A participation-agreement payment is distinct from a tournament purse, and the full terms of Mickelson's contract are not public. The filing alone therefore does not establish that any payment was improper, nor does it show whether attendance requirements applied.

The information has surfaced while LIV proceeds through Chapter 11 and negotiates a possible LIV 2.0 relaunch backed by BC Partners. Other court records list substantial outstanding obligations to players, putting the league's previous system of guarantees under scrutiny as investors weigh its future structure. Yahoo Sports detailed the individual transfers on October 25, while Heavy separately reported the PPA disclosure that day.

The wider significance is financial rather than simply sporting: the payments illustrate the scale of LIV's inherited player commitments at a time when its future funding and operating model remain unsettled. Mickelson has not publicly settled his own plans for a proposed 2027 relaunch.