Classy Phil Mickelson Wishes Smear Merchants McIlroy, Woods “All the Best” Ahead of The Match

0
Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods
Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods talk to golf channel after being named Captain's Picks during a press conference at the Philadelphia Marriott West on Sep. 4, 2018 in West Conshohocken, PA. Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images

Despite being the target of smear campaign by the PGA Tour, and more specifically three of the four participants in The Match, LIV Golf’s Phil Mickelson took to Twitter on Saturday evening to promote the tour-affiliated exhibition while wishing the foursome of Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth “all the best.”

“I’m proud to have been a part of the creation of The Match. Today will be a fun, funny and insightful version and I’m wishing Tiger, Rory, JT and Jordan all the best,” wrote Mickelson.

Tiger Woods Phil Mickelson 2005 Masters
After winning the 2005 Masters, Tiger Woods is fitted with the Green Jacket by last year’s champion Phil Mickelson at Augusta National in Augusta, GA on April 10, 2005. Photo by AFP/Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images

“I’ll be watching it on TNT and I hope you will too.”

Mickelson was most responsible for getting The Match franchise off the ground when he proposed a “high-stakes, winner-take-all match” after being paired with Woods at the 2018 Players Championship in the opening two rounds.

“Why don’t we just bypass all the ancillary stuff of a tournament and just go head-to-head and have kind of a high-stakes, winner-take-all match,” joked Mickelson.

“Now I don’t know if he wants a piece of me, but I think it would be something that would be really fun for us to do.”

Woods retorted: “I’m definitely not against that. We’ll play for whatever makes him uncomfortable.”

The six-time major champion played in the first five editions of The Match: first against Tiger in the original event at the Wynn in Vegas, where he claimed a late victory. He was then paired with Tom Brady in The Match II but lost to Woods and Peyton Manning. He then teamed with Charles Barkley in the fourth edition, edging Steph Curry and Manning. Finally, in Match IV, he and Brady lost to Aaron Rodgers and Bryson DeChambeau.

Jordan Spieth, Bubba Watson, and Phil Mickelson on the first tee during day one of the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village GC on May 31, 2018 in Dublin, OH. Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

Of the four who teed it up in the most recent iteration of The Match, only Spieth stayed above the fray, refusing to criticize Mickelson for joining LIV Golf. Woods (here) and Thomas (here), however, both dinged Mickelson at various times during the season. It was McIlroy, though, who threw the most verbal sucker punches, most memorably calling the iconic lefthander “naïve, selfish, egotistical and ignorant.”

Advertisement

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your name here