Phil Mickelson believes that Rory McIlroy's decision to skip last week's Memorial Tournament is evidence of the failure of the PGA Tour model. Mickelson, 54, was part of the first wave of golfers to join the controversial Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour in 2022. Many big names, including Jon Rahm, Cameron Smith and Tyrrell Hatton, have since joined the six-time major champion in signing for LIV. And despite the breakaway tour struggling to attract big crowds or television audiences, Mickelson believes that its model, which requires players to tee it up in every event, is superior to the PGA Tour. Mickelson said: "I think that LIV has made some incredible strides on where we want to be, and it will get there, I just don't know the exact timeline. "We want all the best players in the world to compete against each other more often and on a global scale. "The model I was a part of for decades just didn't allow for that. We never played against each other. We didn't have elevated events or times when all of us played against each other outside of the majors. "It was not able to move internationally, when they did have tournaments like the WGC, a lot of players didn't play, and that's disappointing from a sponsor's standpoint and from a fan's standpoint. "When you are paying for these events on television and you don't know what you're buying that's frustrating, and when the fans don't get to see the best players play, that's difficult. The model that is on LIV is what is needed to be successful." In a bid to compete with the huge prize money on offer on LIV, the PGA Tour has substantially increased its own prize funds, particularly for its eight Signature events, which also have limited fields. But Mickelson has cited McIlroy's decision to skip the Memorial Tournament - the third Signature event the Masters champion has missed this season - as evidence that the PGA Tour needs to rethink its strategy. "We saw even on last week's signature event [The Memorial Tournament], players will do what's good for them and not necessarily play unless contractually obligated. "Like in the NFL and baseball and every other professional sport, LIV has made professional golf a global sport and has allowed countries that have not seen the best players in the world see the best players in the world compete, and it's driving a lot of interest in these countries. "I understand in the US we've always had the PGA Tour and many of the best players playing here for decades, so we don't know what it's like to want that and not be able to have a model to do that. We're well on our way and not that far away from making that happen. "When you look at the good young players from different parts of the world like Jose Ballaster and Tom McKibbin, who are really interested in coming to LIV and getting what it's about. "Over time that is going to continue to grow just like it has exponentially in the last three years, and we're not that far away from having it be the way we want it to be, where it's all the best players in the world playing against each other."