Professional players’ involvement in YouTube golf has seen it take off in recent years.
Bryson DeChambeau reinvented his image with his YouTube channel, and Phil Mickelson’s channel has also taken off, with over 450,000 subscribers. It’s a platform for pros to give fans a window into their personality that they don’t see on tour.
It’s also an opportunity for players to play against each other outside of official competition. Mickelson has taken on DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, John Daly, and Jon Rahm on his channel, alongside the popular golfing YouTuber Grant Horvat.
The matches are typically fun and light-hearted, but they mean a great deal to the players, even though there’s nothing on the line. That was definitely the case when Mickelson played Rahm on his channel, and things got ‘heated’.
How Jon Rahm and Phil Mickelson’s match got ‘heated’ according to Grant Horvat
Mickelson and Horvat took on Rahm and NFL superstar Josh Allen in a two-on-two scramble match. It came down to two playoff holes before Mickelson and Horvat eventually took the win.
The two pros have eight major championship victories between them, but the match still meant everything to them. That’s a testament to the natural competitiveness of the two LIV Golf stars.
Horvat recounted how things got “heated” between the pair after Rahm picked up a four foot putt.
He said on Bible Caddie, “[Mickelson] is something else. I will tell you, just how serious he is in our two vs twos. I remember we were doing Josh Allen and Jon Rahm, and Rahm picked up a four-footer. I could tell that really got to Phil.
“I don’t know [why he did it], but he just scooped it. Rahm was getting heated in this two vs two. We were making a comeback, and that is the video that Josh Allen messed with our rangefinder.
“He took Phil’s rangefinder and changed it to meters, so for three holes, we were coming up 20 yards short.
“And Josh Allen is laughing, he is losing it. And me and Phil together, it’s truly like if you go back and watch it, we are at a point when we are two down in the match and Phil is mad. We are in the cart together and it’s kind of quiet. When Phil is getting fired up, I have nothing to offer!
“So I am just trying my best and giving it my all, because I know he is going to do something because he is great. Not just good, he is great at the game. But I remember Rahm scooping up that and [Phil] is like ‘is everything good now? Is every putt good now?’
“For a couple of minutes it was just really quiet and tense. A lot of these two vs twos they do get super tense. These guys take it seriously!”
And if you need any more evidence of the tension between the pair during this match, Rahm’s reaction to losing said it all.
What an angry Jon Rahm said after losing to Phil Mickelson on YouTube
Mickelson had the last laugh over Rahm, coming back from one down to take the win in a playoff. The competitor that he is, the 2023 Masters winner, Rahm, didn’t take losing lightly.
A camera on one of the buggies caught Rahm’s mic flying through the air, after the Spaniard seemingly threw it away.
As the loser of the match, Rahm was asked to sign Mickelson’s shoes, and he began to rant. A visibly frustrated Rahm said, “We should have won on 15! We played so much better than you two today. Lucky f—s, making the eagles.”
The ever-antagonising Mickelson cheekily asked if Rahm was ok, to which he replied, “No, I’m really mad.”
All was well after the dust settled when Rahm said, “You guys did great, we didn’t take advantage of the opportunities.” But there was still an air of tension among the players when the video signed off.
Horvat is right, things really did get heated!
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