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The Match: Phil Mickelson defeats Tiger Woods on fourth playoff hole in Las Vegas to win $9 million

Phil Mickelson claimed victory under Shadow Creek's floodlights: Getty
Phil Mickelson claimed victory under Shadow Creek's floodlights: Getty

After five hours and four playoff holes, Phil Mickelson finally got his one-up on Tiger Woods at floodlit Shadow Creek to take home ‘The Match’s’ $9m grand prize.

Even if the cameras closed to the scene of Mickelson standing in front of boulders of Benjamin bills, at its the end, once the inane vulgarity of stacks and side-bets were forgotten, the pair produced a compelling finish to stifle the staunchest of critics.

Yet after a turgid beginning, beyond even the most scathing premonitions, ‘The Match’ remained on course to become a heist even the nearby strip would envy. After all, it was the promise of entertaining trash-talk between the two golfing greats, alongside their banknote infatuation, which was supposed to entice people to the pay-per-view event.

In reality, Woods and Mickelson’s opening verbal spar down the first fairway aptly set the tone for a tepid three hours to come. Promised gnaw and nibbles, fans instead found themselves eavesdropping on the pair praising the course’s conditions, noting the joy of their children watching, and soaking in the serene Nevada weather like two middle-aged dads at a school gate.

Woods and Mickelson got off to a terrible start at Shadow Creek (Getty)
Woods and Mickelson got off to a terrible start at Shadow Creek (Getty)

It was so awkward that, at one point, they would even come to an uncomfortable roadblock where the pressure to create conversation resulted in total malfunction. “I’m trying to be more talkative, but I’m just not,” Mickelson said.

“I understand,” Woods replied.

“Let’s just get back into our own moods. Try and beat each other’s brains out.”

Except the problem was those batterings had never begun. The hysteria over a headline-grabbing $200,000 bet on birdieing the first hole was nullified by two missed putts. The first drawing of blood, to Mickelson at the second, came by way of Woods missing a tiddler. And gasps of surprise soon turned to humming sighs as the pair produced the worst highlights of their form in Paris two months ago.

Darren Clarke, hauled out on commentary duties, even at one stage declared it the “match of mistakes”, while Charles Barkley started ranting about how even he could beat the combined 19 major, 123-time PGA Tour winners as they sliced their way from woodland to bunker.

And then there was the needless crass of the much-hyped side-bets, created to “add sauce” to the watery broth. $600,000 wagered over three closest to the pin competitions – all won by Mickelson – while probability measures were promptly and persistently provided on screen by MGM as though it were a poker contest. The commentary team, with ever-fading subtlety, encouraging viewers to get in on the action, at one point even saying: “If I was a bookie, or maybe betting at MGM, I would be really enjoying these Tiger bets right now.”

Woods struggled for form throughout the match (Getty)
Woods struggled for form throughout the match (Getty)

It was everything feared and worse. A monstrous vessel of hucksterism so laboured Sky’s broadcast interludes were reduced to merely apologising for Woods’ pitter-patter monosyllabic swearing that followed him missing umpteen putts on the low side of the hole as if stuck at the summit of a mountain

The problem wasn’t only that ‘The Match’ was failing to live up to its box office billing, but that it was simply a poor spectacle of sport

Until finally, as the last ounces of expectation that this could be anything but a complete shill oozed away, Woods seized on a Mickelson mistake to tie the match, before taking the lead at the eleventh with a pin-point pitching wedge approach. It was the shot of adrenaline the match desperately needed and the surge continued as Mickelson immediately responded with a birdie of his own at the par-3 13th. There came the first real clench of a fist and at that moment, back on even keel with five holes to play, the exhibition seemed to finally verge on becoming something genuine.

Woods gifted back the lead on the 15th with a dire chip and dribbled short to make amends at the following hole so by the time Mickelson’s tee shot on the par-3 17th settled below the hole it felt as though he was on the brink of victory. But at that moment, with the match ebbing away into the man-made waterfall behind the green, Woods produced magic of old for the minuscule crowd, chipping in from just off the fringe.

Suddenly the pair were heading down the 18th all-square as Mickelson amusingly muttered: ”You’ve been doing that crap to me for 20 years, not sure why I’m surprised now.”

Mickelson gawps at his mammoth winnings (Getty)
Mickelson gawps at his mammoth winnings (Getty)

And as ridiculously impossible as the event was, in that surreal second you couldn’t help but be suckered in by the prospect of $9m being contested over a single hole. Or so we thought.

As the last rays of Vegas sunshine set behind the creek, Woods and Mickelson halved the 18th, and then again in the conventional playoff hole.

Then, in a last barmy twist, the match was transformed into a unique 93-yard sudden death shootout. Woods and Mickelson teeing off in the pitch-black Vegas night, illuminated only by floodlights trained on the practice putting green turned tee box. They halved the mini-hole twice – Mickelson missing another makeable match-winning putt – and it seemed as though ‘The Match’ might never end.

Finally though, to everyone’s relief, Mickelson found the birdie at the fourth whirl to clinch the obscene prize.

And with that, ‘The Match’ was consigned to a hopefully permanent death. But it’s undeniable that in its denouement it was inescapably exciting as it finally became an exhibition of enthralling golf rather than repulsive gambling.

One of the most bizarre moments in golf’s history, one which shouldn’t be repeated, yet one which, admittedly, might have somehow proved worthy of its pay-per-view price