Heavy Toll of LIV Golf Schedule on Phil Mickelson & Others Is Brought to Light by Veteran Player

What made LIV Golf attractive? Well, the prospect of playing just 14 tournaments and a season-ending Team Championship, especially for a higher payout, was hard to miss. Especially if we compare the packed-up PGA Tour calender—in 2025 alone, from January to August, there are a staggering 36 regular-season events and three postseason events lined up. But what if we told you the LIV golfers go through a schedule just as hectic as their PGA peers?

During the latest episode of The Colin Cowherd Podcast, the namesake host was joined by golfer Kevin Na on YouTube. During a segment, Cowherd questioned the Korean-American player if he ever felt like he and his fellow LIV Golf pros were comparable to a “real athlete” when they play in sweltering heat across the globe “day after day after day”. “I mean, there are moments watching you guys, and I’m like, ‘Phil Mickelson looks tired’. Do you think that’s an underrated part of even your LIV tour? You go to Hong Kong, a lot of you’re playing in sometimes the steamiest of weather,” the host enquired.

To this, the veteran answered, “Oh, yeah. I mean, Singapore is extremely hot. I remember, in the PGA Tour days, we played in Malaysia, and it was extremely hot. Dallas, this year, we played; it was rough.” Na shared a few examples of places he also felt were quite exhausting to play at. He also mentioned how stressful it is to travel the world while playing in LIV Golf every season.

The 41-year-old added, “We went from Saudi Arabia to Australia. We went from Mexico City to Seoul. Literally, we have a 20-hour travel day. As soon as we land, if it’s during the morning, we go straight to the golf course, and we start practicing. That’s not easy to do.” Working on a tight schedule like that of LIV Golf leaves little room for the players to adjust to the new destinations. They just have to start practicing and performing wherever they are. If they do get the opportunity to take a few weeks off between events, then that is the only time they get to relax and decompress.

However, as Na mentioned, when they are playing consecutive events, “Your time zones are all off. We get up in the morning, we spend all day on the golf course, we train, we practice, we may not look like an athlete, but we are.” While golf might not be a physical or combat sport, the demanding schedule of LIV Golf pros does push them to limits that sportsmen from high-contact sports also go through. That makes Kevin Na think that they fit the profile just as well as anyone else.

With LIV Golf growing and expanding every year, things will only get more intense for the likes of Na, Mickelson, Poulter, and others on the road. In fact, the much-questioned schedule for the 2026 season already shows some major flaws that would be a gruesome test for its players.

Things are about to heat up for Phil Mickelson & Co. in 2026

The 2025 schedule of LIV Golf might have seemed hectic, as Kevin Na described it. However, the release of the 2026 calendar for the Tour shocked everyone due to the amount of traveling it involved across the world. An insider from Sports Business Journal shared a tentative 13-event schedule for next year a few weeks ago. It showed quite a few changes that included a few new destinations for 2026 and a few omissions from this year.

Next year, LIV Golf will head to South Africa a couple of weeks before the Masters.

Top Comment by Jax

Don’t care about LIV golf. it’s just an exhibition for has beens.

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Additionally, Dallas is off the list. Despite Bryson DeChambeau‘s desperate plea, LIV Golf won’t go back to his hometown of Dallas in 2026. However, it will go to Andalucia just a couple of weeks before the U.S. Open. The schedule would probably make it impossible for top players of the Saudi-based promotion to get sufficient rest and practice before their major appearance. It will be interesting to see what kind of effect this will have on the likes of DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, & Co.