Phil Mickelson’s wild and controversial season ends with a loss to Cam Smith in the LIV Golf Team Finals
With a birdie on the final hole, the world number three ended the season for Hy Flyers and Phil, whose comments, actions, and the new league has been the talk of the year.
A year that began in Hawaii with no sign of what was to come ended Friday in Florida for Phil Mickelson, Cam Smith’s birdie, capping off what will surely go down as golf’s most tumultuous, controversial season, the popular, Hall-of-Fame could last.
Much of it was Mickelson’s own fault. Still, he could do nothing on the 8th green of the Blue Monster course at Trump Doral, where a tense matchup with the reigning British Open champion came to a close when Mickelson was unable to convert a putt for birdie and then watched the Australian hole for the same line.
Golf was a Friday affair for a few hours,
An unusual retreat from the drama surrounding LIV Golf since its start in June. The real golf has never been a real story and that will have to change in the future, but watching a six-time major winner take on one of the best players in the world has long been quite impressive on the course. made famous.
There were few birdies, but the match was close throughout when it came to their 18th hole – par 5 – 8 – where Mickelson was unable to get up or down from the greenside bunker, while Smith could from the back of the green.
Due to the format of the LIV Golf Invitational Series Miami Team Championship, Mickelson’s Hy Flyers team, which also featured Matt Wolff, Bernd Wiesberger, and Cameron Tringale, was eliminated.
Phil Mickelson’s eight tournaments run with LIV Golf
And that means Mickelson’s eight-tournament run with LIV Golf has been completed for 2022.
“I’m pretty surprised how far LIV has come because there was a lot of uncertainty, like who’s going to play in London,” Mickelson said after the round Whether you love them or hate them, there are a lot of guys that people want to see.
“Internationally, there is a lot of support and desire to hold tournaments. We have a lot of current multi-tour tournaments that come to us saying we want a LIV event, we only have 14 so it’s not like we have a lot but next year we’re going to have an exciting year with a lot of strong games and a lot of strong tournaments.”
Mickelson, 52, who won the PGA Championship just 18 months ago to become the oldest major winner in the game’s history, has been the subject of considerable backlash this year when he called out her “obnoxious greed” and criticized her on the PGA Tour. the Saudi regime, which financed LIV Golf in another conversation, eventually signing on for a reported $200 million.
Hiatus from competitive
During that time, Mickelson took a four-month hiatus from competitive golf and was suspended from the PGA Tour, appearing in the first LIV Golf Invitational Series outside of London in June and then facing numerous questions about his motives.
There was even controversy during his match with Smith wondering why Mickelson was taking so long.
“I think Phil might have had a little bit of gamesmanship there,” Smith said So it was a little painful. But other than that, it was good.
Mickelson regretted the missed opportunity against Smith, who he knew would be a formidable opponent. A win in his singles would also turn the team match and his Hy Flyers team would advance to the last eight teams that will be in action on Saturday.
Instead, Mickelson can look ahead again. He is unlikely to play until the Saudi International, an Asian Tour event scheduled for early February and likely before the first of 14 yet-to-be-announced LIV events.
“I didn’t play well in the beginning. I’m starting to play some pretty good golf, so I’m going to head into this offseason, put in some work, and see if I can get a good run in the next couple of years and play the level that I know. I can. I’m starting to play a lot better.
Recover and preparing for next season are important
“We’ve got three months off. It’s actually a perfect thing. It’s going to allow me to get into the physical condition I need to be able to swing the club at the speed I need to and also train with enough repetitions to maintain it. This time off is very important for everything to recover and prepare for next season.”
Until then, who knows what will develop? Will LIV Golf have world ranking points? Will there be a transformation of all LIV Golf teams? are there be peace with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour?
“I think there are a lot of options,” Mickelson said. “I think there will be a lot of things that will be ironed out over the course of the next year.”
The four teams had byes on Friday and will face the four winning teams on Saturday in the same format: two singles matches and one foursome match. On the day, the four remaining teams – 16 players – will play single-shot play, with all scores from each team counting towards the team total. The winning team will receive $16 million of the $50 million purse. Each of the four losing teams on Friday received $1 million, with each player receiving $250,000.