Phil Mickelson defeats Tiger Woods in 'The Match' to clinch $9 million
Relive all the action as two golfing greats went head-to-head in Las Vegas
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Your support makes all the difference.Phil Mickelson beat Tiger Woods in overtime Friday in their $9 million pay-per-view match in Las Vegas.
Mickelson won on the 22nd hole, making a 4-foot birdie putt on a specially set up 93-yard, par 3. The match at Shadow Creek Golf Club finished under floodlights.
Mickelson said to Woods after the match: "Just know I will never let you live that down. It's not the Masters or the U.S. Open, but it is nice to have a little something on you."
Woods said he enjoyed the match, even if he was on the losing end.
"You couldn't have made this event any better than it was," he said. "It was back and forth and very competitive on a golf course that was playing on the tricky side."
AP
Relive all the action below
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Preview
When does it start?
The contest takes place on November 23 with the two players set to tee-off at 20:00 UK time.
What is at stake?
As well as the $9m winner takes all prize, the pair will set each other a number of side challenges with $200,000 said to be wagered between them on birdieing the first hole alone.
Can you watch it on TV in the UK?
Sky Sports Golf acquired the rights to the event late on Thursday evening and the live broadcast is set to begin on Friday at 20:00 UK time. Subscribers will be able to stream the whole event live via SkyGo.
In the US, the event is being broadcast on pay-per-view at the price of $19.99 by Bleacher Report Live and other cable service providers.
Odds...
Tiger Woods (4/9)
Phil Mickelson (7/4)
Good afternoon and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of Tiger Woods vs Phil Mickelson from Las Vegas.
'The Match' sees two of golf's most famous names battle it out for nine million dollars (£7million) in a winner-takes-all showdown.
It's not been without its controversy with many onlookers critical of it going ahead at all.
We will have all the latest for you right here with our coverage getting underway at 7pm.
The last time Tiger Woods played in a televised event was in September in Paris where, arguably, the most talented golfer in history played for nothing but pride alongside Phil Mickelson. Together, they walked away with nothing.
Two months on and the pair are reunited in Las Vegas for their ludicrously lucrative winner-takes-all $9m match.
Just one hour remains until we make that final irrevocable turn from the greatest event to the most vulgar exhibition in golf.
'The Match' is taking place behind closed doors at Shadow Creek Golf Club just 15 minutes away from the Vegas strip. And it was amongst the MGM casinos where this pay-per-view golf come gambling monstrosity was constructed.
Appearing on surface level as a typical game of match-play for an almighty prize, the showdown will actually be dominated by $50,000 side-bets such as closest to the pin and longest drive competitions - Mickelson promising that the monetary incentive will make the exhibition so very real for the pair who boast a combined wealth of $2.5bn.
And now the betting will begin on the very first hole as, in their bizarre boxing-style press conference earlier this week, Mickelson challenged Woods to a $100,000 wager on birdieing the first hole. Woods' response? "Double it."
And if you can't bear the anticipation, you can delight in Mickelson's astute salesmanship and Woods' uncomfortable retorts from that press conference here:
But considering there will be five minute intervals between each exchange of shots with only two players on the course, Woods, Mickelson and their caddies will be mic'd throughout and have promised to entertain viewers with a host of trash-talking, because that's golf's prized etiquette for you.
Tiger Woods has arrived and at least if he looked a little embarrassed at the press conference he will be more at home on the course in his Sunday red - on a Friday.
'The Match' has been widely castigated both in the UK and overseas, and it's a point which can't be ignored. Orientated around gambling, while capitalising on the wilful celebrity of golf's two biggest stars, it's an amoral money-spinner which only serves to profit at the expense of the sport.
Click here to see The Independent's take on the exhibition.
↵"There's nothing better than beating Phil," says Tiger, having already done so almost incessantly for the past two decades.
Tiger and Phil are now warming up alongside one another on the range. The pair feigning a steely sense of competition, but as we already know they are in fact "damn good friends"...and bad actors.
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