Mickelson Victorious Against Woods on 22nd Hole and Wins $9 Million
Phil Mickelson, 48, met his long-time rival Tiger Woods, 42, in a pay-per-view special dubbed The Match, broadcasting from Las Vegas this past Friday. Mickelson came out on top, securing the $9 million prize. Acknowledging that this bout wasn’t the US Open nor was it the Masters, Mickelson was still very happy about the win, playfully telling Woods that he will never let him live this one down.
Despite losing, Woods also seemed to enjoy it. He felt that the match was very back and forth and competitive.
The victory came about as Mickelson scored a four-foot birdie putt on the 22nd hole. This was after Woods used a chip shot on the 17th to prevent Mickelson from putting. However, Woods then missed his chance from eight feet on the first extra hole. As a result, the players went on to a specially set-up 93-yard hole with Mickelson ultimately being the victor.
However, being that this was golfing’s first foray into pay-per-view, there were some technical difficulties, where viewers weren’t able to view the match after paying the $19.95 price tag. The result of this inconvenience was that representatives from both Turner and Bleacher Report posted links to online streams of The Match on social media, effectively giving it away for free. This was something of an ironic twist of fate as the only spectators allowed on the course were a select few friends, family and sponsors, so most people had to rely on the pay-per-view to watch the match unfold.
Aside from this, The Match was out to do things differently and switch things up. One of the ways they went about this was by putting microphones on the golfers and caddies. While the audience didn’t get the trash-talking that was hoped for, it still made for a fascinating experience. One amusing moment came in the aforementioned chip shot from Woods on the 17th hole, where Mickelson could be heard saying, “You’ve been doing that to me for 20 years, so I don’t know why I’m surprised.”
One other interesting aspect to the event was the celebrity guests in attendance. Michelle Wie and Norm McDonald were present in the crowd, while Samuel L. Jackson and Charles Barkley were on the mics.
While the match didn’t prove to be as revolutionary as hoped, it certainly did make for a day of interesting golf.