Mickelson finalises LIV roster with Ogletree signing

International Series order of merit winner joins HyFlyers GC team and will tee off in February

Andy Ogletree has joined Phil Mickelson’s HyFlyers GC team ahead of the new LIV Golf League season, which gets under way in Mexico in February.

The American, who earned a full contract with LIV after topping the Asian Tour’s International Series order of merit, replaces James Piot in a quartet that also includes Brendan Steele and Cameron Tringale.

Victories in Qatar and England helped Ogletree finish more than US$500,000 ahead of his nearest rival in the series rankings, and Tour CEO Cho Minn Thant said the 25-year-old had been “head and shoulders above his peers”.

Piot lost his place with the Saudi-backed circuit after a poor season left him 47th in individual standings. He has the option of trying to earn his way back into LIV next year by playing in the 10 elevated events in the series.

Ogletree is no stranger to LIV, having played in the inaugural invitational event in London last year, and was a reserve in this season’s competition.

“Andy is one of the most impressive young players in the game who has earned his spot on LIV,” Mickelson said.

“The work he has continued to put in and the resiliency he showed this past year in creating his own success was awesome to see. He makes the HyFlyers a contender next year and just as importantly, Andy fits in perfectly with everyone on the team.”

Talking to the Post during the Hong Kong Open in November, Ogletree said choosing a team to play with had been similar to deciding where to go to college.

At the time, the 2019 US Amateur champion said his decision would be made looking through a “massive lens”, with how a team travelled, how it trained and what help was provided off the course all being taken into consideration.

“I started getting some phone calls and it was kind of like college recruiting all over again,” Ogletree said following his move being announced. “A few teams wanted to meet and I had conversations with some of the captains and it followed from there. Since LIV Golf owns the teams, the final contract had to be approved and all of this was navigated over the last few weeks.

“I was in a fortunate situation to travel with LIV during the year. I was at every tournament as a reserve. I was seeing how every tournament works and the team dynamic and the support structure they put in place. I was able to ask a lot of questions and get opinions from different players.

“I liked the way Phil went about things and to get that knowledge from one of the greatest of all time is an opportunity I couldn’t turn down.”