'Maybe I shouldn't have said stuff like that' - Phil Mickelson reflects on suggestion PGA Tour on downward slope

Phil Mickelson has suggested he was wrong to make the claim that the PGA Tour is on a downward spiral.

The six-time major winner has made a series of outspoken statements before and since making the move to LIV Golf.

He said recently that LIV and the PGA Tour were on different trajectories, and that the Saudi-funded series would emerge stronger.

“We play against a lot of the best players in the world on LIV and there are a lot of the best players in the world on the PGA Tour," Mickelson said. “And until both sides sit down and have a conversation and work something out, both sides are going to continue to change and evolve.

"I see LIV Golf trending upwards, I see the PGA Tour trending downwards and I love the side that I'm on. And I love how I feel. I love how I'm reinvigorated and excited to play golf and compete. I love the experience. I love the way they treat us.”

The 52-year-old’s comments were dismissed as LIV propaganda by world No. 1 Rory McIlroy.

Mickelson refused to be drawn into commenting directly about McIlroy, but conceded his statement was not ideal.

”Maybe I shouldn't have said stuff like that, I don't know," Mickelson said ahead of the final LIV Golf event of the year. "But if I'm just looking at LIV Golf and where we are today to where we were six, seven months ago and people are saying this is dead in the water, and we're past that, and here we are today, a force in the game that's not going away, that has players of this calibre that are moving professional golf throughout the world and the excitement level in the countries around the world of having some of the best players in the game of golf coming to their country and competing.

“It's pretty remarkable how far LIV Golf has come in the last six, seven months. I don't think anybody can disagree with that."

Asked for his views on McIlroy, Mickelson said: “I think a lot of Rory. I really have the utmost respect for him, and I look at what he's done in the game and how he's played this year and his win last week and No. 1 in the world now, and I have a ton of respect for him.

"We'll have three months off after this event to talk about things like that and so forth, but this week something is happening that I don't want to deflect focus on, which is we've never had a team event like this in professional golf."