Phil Mickelson beat Tiger Woods to win their highly-anticipated head-to-head golf matchup on Friday — claiming a $9 million purse and a nifty championship belt crafted with 18-karat gold and two karats worth of diamonds. Unfortunately, when Phil tried on the belt at the trophy presentation, it didn’t fit.
“They thought you were gonna win,” Mickelson wise-cracked to the slimmer Woods.
We all had a good laugh over that one.
“The Match” got off to a wild start, with several streaming customers complaining on Twitter they were unable to watch the event — then, suddenly, the $19.99 live stream was available for free to anyone on B/R Live. The craziness didn’t end there: This thing required 22 holes — four extras under sudden-death playoff rules — to find a winner.
Mickelson led for the majority of regulation, but Woods came through with a clutch chip shot on the 17th hole to bring them even heading into the final hole. Neither grabbed the lead on the final hole, sending the matchup to playoff holes. If only either could make a putt.
The rivals and buddies (these days) played Hole 18 a second time and tied again, then heading to a makeshift short Par 3. Mickelson and Woods teed up from the country club’s practice putting green and aimed at a newly cut hole on 18’s dance floor.
“The Match,” held at Shadow Creek golf course in Las Vegas, was highlighted by several side bets for charity. Woods won a $200,000 challenge on the first hole, after Mickelson failed to nail a birdie shot. Mickelson rebounded to grab the edge in side bets, starting with a $100,000 closest-to-the-pin challenge on the fifth hole.
Mickelson, by the end of the match, had a $600,000 to $200,000 advantage, compared to Woods, when it came to charity bets.
Other sights and sounds included Samuel L. Jackson introducing the golfers on the opening hole, Charles Barkley ribbing Mickelson and Woods — and also challenging Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander to a $100,000 charity golf game — and a Howard Stern “Baba Booey” reference written in the sky.