Phil Mickelson admits ‘I was wrong’ over what he said about Scottie Scheffler after being called out by Kevin Kisner

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Scottie Scheffler managed to make 15 pars during the third round of The Open Championship on Saturday, and yet increased his lead to four shots with just 18 holes to play at Royal Portrush.

The argument that Scottie Scheffler will become one of the all-time greats is getting stronger as each month passes. It is hard to see how the world number one does not win a fourth major title on Sunday at The Open Championship.

It will be a fourth win of the year and a second major title. It will leave him just a US Open victory away from completing the Career Grand Slam.

Of course, one player who knows what that feels like is Phil Mickelson, with the US Open being the one major which has eluded him throughout his career.

Phil Mickelson admits he got it wrong over Scottie Scheffler after being called out by Kevin Kisner

Mickelson has come in for a lot of ridicule over the last few years. Some of it has been a little unfair. But one claim he made earlier this year now looks quite ridiculous.

Mickelson not only labelled Joaquin Niemann the best player in the world in March, but he also predicted that Scheffler would not win before the Ryder Cup.

Admittedly, Niemann has had a fantastic year on LIV Golf. However, that has not translated to the majors, with the Chilean missing the cut at the US Open and The Open Championship.

Scheffler meanwhile, is on the verge of a fourth major title in his 25th start. And when Kevin Kisner asked for an update on social media about this claim, Mickelson admitted that he simply had to hold his hands up.

Joaquin Niemann should be annoyed as the pressure continues to build on LIV Golf’s best player

No player should be more annoyed about Mickelson’s comments than Niemann. Of course, Lefty’s intention would never have been to pile the pressure on him, but that is exactly what he did.

Niemann has become such an important figure for LIV. He has been such a success story in their league, winning six times. But for LIV’s credibility, it seems absolutely vital that he makes much more of an impact in the majors.

He has actually made one more major start than Scheffler during his career. And so far, he has just one top 10.

He is too good a player for that run to continue for too much longer. But it probably does him no favours to be seen as LIV’s great hope as the league still awaits the day when one of their players wins their first major title.