Phil Mickelson 18 holes away from a career-best finish at LIV Golf, but aiming higher: "I would love nothing more"

Golf legend Phil Mickelson recently expressed his desire to capture his first individual LIV Golf victory at the Hong Kong Golf Club on Sunday.

Mickelson heads into the final round three strokes behind leaders Sergio Garcia, Peter Uihlein, and Paul Casey. Garcia won his first LIV Golf event in July of last year in a playoff, and he has also lost three other LIV Golf events in playoffs since joining the tour.

While speaking with the media on Saturday after the second round, he expressed his desire to capture a LIV Golf victory.

"I would love nothing more -- one of my goals is to win a LIV event. Okay, but the experience of sharing it with teammates, we've not won as a team. I've not ever won as a team in professional golf outside of the Ryder Cup, and even that was very few times, and it would mean a lot for -- I think that would probably mean a little more, which is very unusual to say in a game that's such an individual sport," he said [via ASAP Sports].

Phil Mickelson at LIV Golf Hong Kong (via Getty)

Phil Mickelson shot a five-under-par 65 in the second round of the LIV Golf Hong Kong on Saturday. After the round, he discussed with the media the changes he has made to his game in recent months to improve his play.

"I've had to find a different way to play this game to compete at this level, and in the off-season, I made some adjustments, and that's what I'm trying to do. I'm not going to overpower golf courses. I'm not going to hit it longer than Bryson and the long guys out here now that are 190 ball speed. But I can shoot low scores another way. I've been figuring that out, and that's been a fun challenge for me. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow," he added.

Mickelson aims to capture his first professional win tomorrow since his victories on the PGA Tour Champions in 2021.

Phil Mickelson aims for bounce-back season after struggling for much of 2024

Phil Mickelson at the The 152nd Open (via Getty)

The iconic Lefty struggled for most of the 2024 season on both LIV Golf and in the four majors on the PGA Tour. He made the cut at two of the four majors last year: The Masters and The 152nd Open Championship. However, he didn't contend in either event, finishing tied for 43rd at The Masters and tied for 60th at The Open.

His best finish last year on LIV Golf came in March at LIV Golf Jeddah, where he finished tied for 6th place. That was Mickelson's only top-10 finish on LIV last season.

Last year's LIV Golf Hong Kong was also held at the Hong Kong Country Club, where Phil Mickelson finished tied for 52nd after an opening round of 80.