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For the first time in over three decades, Phil Mickelson is not ranked in the Official World Golf Rankings' top 200. Mickelson has been teetering on the edge of this unwanted milestone for a long time.
On December 11, he officially fell nine places to an inauspicious ranking of 201. A week later, he was in freefall again as he landed at 209. On Christmas Day, the veteran golfer ended up falling to 213—where he's currently ranked.
Mickelson has not been outside the top 200 in the world since 1992, the year he first turned pro. In July of that year, he finished second in the New England Classic, which vaulted him to 175.
He would not drop out again until a few weeks ago, and he even spent a lot of time highly ranked, even getting to be world number two for a while.
This freefall has been going on for some time, too. In 1993, he entered the top 100 and stayed there until March 2021. He won the PGA Championship after that, which put him back at number 32.
The true freefall began after that. Thanks to his comments on LIV Golf's funding (admitting there were heinous human rights violations in the country but that he couldn't resist trying to reshape the PGA Tour), he took a long hiatus.
He later returned as the face of LIV Golf. These events don't count for OWGR purposes, so it's very difficult for any member of the fledgling league to improve their standing.
His performance in LIV wasn't spectacular, even though he earned a lot of money. He missed the U.S. Open and the Open Championship and never finished higher than 30th in an LIV event.
As a result, Phil Mickelson has seen his world ranking plummet to a place that was a once-distant memory. He may not be able to climb back out of that hole with his age and status.
Can Phil Mickelson get back inside the OWGR top 200?
With Phil Mickelson being both one of the oldest golfers in the world and the face of LIV Golf, a return to prominence isn't very likely, at least when it comes to OWGR.
However, he will have a shot at doing so. The only way to improve your standing on the OWGR is to play well in a PGA Tour event.
Fortunately for Mickelson, he's eligible to be invited to the Masters in 2023. Should he accept and play well, he could see a return to the top 200, but he won't be doing much else that qualifies, so it might be a short-lived stay.
