Phil Mickelson began his LIV Golf tournament embroiled in gambling allegations and ended it in heartbreak as the chance to end his two-year drought slipped away to a Cameron Smith triumph at Trump National Bedminster.
Mickelson, who last won professionally in 2021, hadn’t come close to a victory on the Saudi-backed breakaway he has so vocally supported. And he was made to wait even longer Sunday.
After an implosion of his own making on the front nine, the 53-year-old, who had been set for final day duel with Smith, carded a four-over 75 to ultimately finish tied-ninth, 11 shots back of the Australian.
It allowed Smith to cruise to an easy win at 12-under, with little to no pressure from the hunting pack.
The wait goes on for Phil Mickelson and his first title since crossing over to join LIV Golf
Mickelson’s meltdown came as an even more agonizing blow after he had shot himself into contention with a second round of 71, blocking out the off-course noise.
Just one day before the tournament began, his former betting partner Billy Walters made allegations of Mickelson’s excessive gambling in an excerpt of his autobiography ‘Gambler: Secrets from a Life at Risk’ released Thursday
But it didn’t appear to trouble Mickelson, who received a warm welcome from Donald Trump, or the fans.
Despite the allegations, and a dig from Rory McIlroy, Mickelson wasn’t turned into the villain of this week’s event. If anything, he became more of a hero over the opening two rounds. There was no ridicule. Mickelson was back on top. The fairytale win was scripted and Mickelson was following the plot.
The fans in Bedminster were quite clearly in his corner again Sunday with cheers of ‘man of people’ sounding out as he made his way down the fairways.
Even for the day thru six, it all appeared to be going swimmingly for him, until it was his ball that was doing the swimming.
Mickelson, who had seen Smith’s lead cut to three, found the water on the par-three seventh not once, but twice, and almost a third time, resulting in a card-wrecking eight. The off-course turmoil appeared to have finally taken its toll on the lefty as he cracked.
The horror show on seven was an excruciating watch, which saw him plummet down the leaderboard to at even-par, eight shots back of Smith and firmly out of contention. They were odds even he wouldn’t want to take.
He did attempt to rally, pulling a shot back at nine but it was too late. The door had already been flung wide open for Smith, who seemed an inevitable champion at this point.
Donald Trump told reporters following Thursday’s pro-am that he believed Smith was a star.
‘He’s a fantastic guy,’ the former president said. ‘He doesn’t know he’s a star, he’s really just a regular guy. But he’s a big star, he just doesn’t know it. I know a lot of people who are stars and they think they’re bigger stars than they are. Cam is a real champion.’
And the 29-year-old backed up the former president’s claim with a relentless round to claim the LIV Bedminster individual title.
Smith saw his overnight four-shot lead chipped away at instantaneously with an errant drive on the first. Missing right off the tee, he found the perilous thick rough at Trump Bedminster. He managed to dig it out to the front of the green but he couldn’t seal the recovery with his chip shot pulling up short and leaving him too much work to do for the par putt.
His stuttering start was followed by another wayward shot at the third, which landed him in more trouble he couldn’t recover from, seeing his lead slashed.
But the 2022 Open Champion dug deep and he ploughed on to sink five birdies through the remaining 15 holes as he hunted down his second LIV Golf win.
Anirban Lahiri finished second at five-under, while Patrick Reed, Abraham Ancer and Brandon Grace were close behind in tied-third at four-under.
Smith’s individual win wasn’t the only victory he tasted with his 12-under helping lift Ripper GC to glory in the team competition too.
It was Aussie dominance in Bedminster as the all-Australian team thrashed the competition, finishing with a combined score of 20-under, 11 shots ahead of Crushers GC and Stinger GC.