Tiger Woods Once Had an Epic Response to Phil Mickelson Losing a 200K Bet: ‘That Hurts the Pocket’

The rivalry between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson has given us several golden moments over the years. The two have been arch-rivals for several years during their prime playing days. However, their rivalry has turned into a brotherhood in recent years. Today, we look back at a pleasant moment for Tiger Woods while an agony for Phil Mickelson from “The Match.”

The coveted event was a head-to-head match play golf challenge played back in 2019 between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. The winner purse for the unofficial PGA Tour event was $9 million. The event took place in the Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas, Nevada.

However, to increase the stakes, both stars placed several side bets before their match, which included Mickelson placing a $200k wager on himself scoring a birdie on the first hole. Let’s take a deeper look into who managed to grasp the bet.

Tiger Woods relaxes after Phil Mickelson’s shot

As the match started, Phil Mickelson came close to winning the first bet of the game with just 9 feet away from his birdie on his first hole. However, a mistimed shot missed him the opportunity to win his quick 6-figure bet.

The moment the shot fell short of the hole, the cameras quickly turned to Tiger Woods, who was caught saying, “That hurts the pocket!” Moreover, the 15-time Major champion could not contain his smile after winning the bet.

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Though Lefty lost the first bet of the game, he managed to win most side bets later and also won the maiden event defeating Woods. However, Tiger Woods managed to get revenge the following year.

How the bet was placed?

While promoting “The Match”, Mickelson assured Woods that he was convinced he would ace his first hole and put $100,000 on the line for it. The now 52-year-old sounded very confident about himself.

Mickelson said, “I feel like the first hole is a great hole for me. And I believe — in fact, I’m willing to risk $100,000 that says I birdie the first hole. So that’s how good I feel heading into this match.”

Similar to Mickelson’s high spirits, Woods, too, was feeling confident about the bet. He challenged Lefty to double the wager. Unsurprisingly, Mickelson accepted the wager. “Did you see how I baited him like that?” Mickelson said, smiling. “Yes. $200 [thousand] says I birdie the first hole.”

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After losing the first event, Tiger Woods managed to win “The Match” in 2020 alongside the NFL quarterback, Peyton Manning, defeating the duo of Phil Mickelson and 7-time Superbowl champion, Tom Brady.

What do you make of the interesting challenge between the two legends? Let us know your valuable thoughts in the comments below.