Bubba Watson - LIV deserves major bids, golfers want to join - ESPN

Bubba Watson doubled down on Phil Mickelson's statement that LIV Golf is going to sign more marquee players before its third season in 2024.

«There's open spots. There's interest,» Watson said Wednesday ahead of this week's Team Championship at Trump National Doral. «There's people calling, texting, even me, and I don't have any pull. So they are asking for help to try to get in the league.»

Watson's comments came a day after Mickelson said that LIV's player roster is "going to improve next year."

The Team Championship is the final of 14 events in the Saudi-backed league's second season. There are numerous unknowns moving forward, including the seemingly tenuous status of the framework agreement between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and the Public Investment Fund that has financed LIV.

Another unknown is how the four major tournaments will address the eligibility of LIV players after the board of the Official World Golf Ranking denied the league's request for its events to provide rankings points. Many LIV players have offered opinions on why the league should be able to compete for points, while Watson, who captains the Range Goats team, offered his solution for the majors.

«We shouldn't go after world ranking points. We should go after top 10, top 15 on the money list — our points list on LIV should get into majors,» he said. «Makes it easy. These guys are so good. The top 10 this year could play against anybody. You could make a U.S. team, you could make a European team, they could play with anybody, our top 10.

»That's how you should get into majors, and I've been saying that forever. Forget points. Just go straight off the money list, try to get 10 people or 15 get in; trying to get more people, so 15."

Watson is a