Phil Mickelson edges Tiger under the lights in extra holes at The Match
The Match is a Thanksgiving weekend experiment that is ostensibly about golf. The golf shots, however, are simply a vessel for a gambling product that is supposed to serve as pure sports entertainment. There is no career-long chase for a major championship trophy or some sort of resume-building glory here. It’s a mutually beneficial experiment that will land both Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson a nice paycheck. It’s also a compelling sports entertainment experiment that will look and feel different than any kind of golf we’ve seen, starting with the fact that you’ll have to fork over $20 to pay-per-view.
Results
The Match will definitely go down as an unforgettable experiment. Neither Phil nor Tiger played their best golf, the pay-per-view technology completely tanked, the broadcast infuriated in spots, but ... the two Hall-of-Famers went 22 holes into the darkness before deciding things. In the end, it was Phil Mickelson knocking in a short birdie putt under the lights to make $9 million.
Mistakes were made and it could have been better in spots, but what you want is a close match and the margin was never more than 1-up. The two see-sawed on the back-nine, with Tiger making two birdies in a row to get his first lead on the 12th hole and then chipping in from off the green at the 17th to stay alive. It prompted a chill-inducing “Just like old times” exclamation as he walked off the hole.
