{"id":441189,"date":"2026-01-29T16:38:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T16:38:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/441189\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T16:38:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T16:38:07","slug":"liv-golf-2026-season-preview-hyflyers-gc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/441189\/","title":{"rendered":"LIV Golf 2026 Season Preview: HyFlyers GC"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>PLAYER SPOTLIGHTS\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Phil Mickelson: Last season, Mickelson showed that he can still compete, finishing inside the Lock Zone at 55 years old. The legend was the only player on the HyFlyers to do so and will need a lot more help from his teammates for the team to be relevant in the standings in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>Cameron Tringale:\u00a0Tringale has been a steady contributor for the HyFlyers and his stellar match play performance has made the team a tough out in the Team Championship. Tringale is one of the best putters in the league and is capable of finishing in the Lock Zone in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>Brendan Steele:\u00a0Steele struggled in 2025, just barely sneaking into the Open Zone at season\u2019s end. The veteran is a reliable ball-striker who\u2019s earned a chance to prove that last season\u2019s results aren\u2019t indicative of what he\u2019s capable of going forward.<\/p>\n<p>Michael La Sasso:\u00a0The addition of La Sasso is a significant moment in the history of the HyFlyers. As one of the older teams in the league, adding potentially one of the best young talents in the world is a move that can set the team up for success for years to come. La Sasso is a powerful athlete who brings an element to the HyFlyers they desperately needed. The Ole Miss product will now get the chance to develop under a Hall of Famer in Mickelson.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>WHAT THE STATS SUGGEST\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>HyFlyers GC was one of the most accurate teams in the league off the tee in 2025, ranking 3rd in the league. Mickelson\u2019s team was strong in both around and on the greens and ranked 5th in scrambling and 5th in putting.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>WHERE CAN THEY IMPROVE?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>HyFlyers\u00a0GC ranked 10th in driving distance and 7th in greens in regulation last season, which are two categories that the addition of La Sasso should help improve. Their veteran savvy and short game came in handy, but for team to compete in 2026, those putts need to be for birdie, not par.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>KEY QUOTES\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Phil Mickelson on the switch to 72 holes:\u00a0\u201cA lot of teams out here have a lot of firepower, and with 54 holes, steady play\u00a0isn&#8217;t\u00a0rewarded as much. I think over the course of 72 holes with every score counting, steadiness is going to be a factor, and\u00a0I think that&#8217;ll\u00a0help our team.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Phil Mickelson on playing on LIV Golf:\u00a0\u201cI&#8217;m\u00a0having so much\u00a0fun out\u00a0here. I love playing out here on LIV. I love being with the guys.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Michael La Sasso on joining HyFlyers GC:\u00a0\u201cIt&#8217;s\u00a0a rare opportunity to learn from one of the greatest players in the history of the game, and I\u00a0don&#8217;t\u00a0take that lightly. LIV Golf allows me to compete at the highest level on a global stage, and I thrive in a team environment, especially one with the camaraderie and support that\u00a0defines\u00a0HyFlyers\u00a0GC.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>BOTTOM LINE\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The HyFlyers will have a much needed spark after adding La Sasso, and pairing him with Mickelson should bring some electricity to the franchise in 2026 and beyond. Mickelson is still one of the most exciting players in golf. He needs more help from his teammates to get into the LIV Golf spotlight in 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>THREE BOLD PREDICTIONS\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Phil Mickelson will finish top 20 at The Masters. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Michael La Sasso will finish in the Open Zone.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Mickelson will team up with La Sasso in the LIV Golf Team Championship.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PLAYER SPOTLIGHTS\u00a0 Phil Mickelson: Last season, Mickelson showed that he can still compete, finishing inside the Lock Zone&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":441190,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[49,48,622,82],"class_list":["post-441189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=441189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441189\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/441190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=441189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=441189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=441189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}