Golf is one of the hardest sports in the world and so it proved again yesterday at LIV Golf Dallas as Phil Mickelson became the latest high profile player to get stung.
Things were going along quite nicely for Mickelson in Dallas as he headed into the final few holes at one under par and playing well.
However, disaster struck for the American on holes 16 and 17 as he first made a double on 16 before things got even worse over on 17.
Mickelson hit a poor drive that led to him taking a penalty shot immediately to get back in play.
But quite remarkably, that was just the start of things going wrong for ‘Lefty’ as he made a few more poor swings before finding the bunker near the green and finally getting the ball up and down for a nine on the par five.
Mickelson did recover to make par but the damage was done, with six dropped shots in two holes sending him five over and putting him in a reflective mood on social media.
Phil Mickelson reacts after making a nine at LIV Dallas
It’s never nice for any golfer to make a big score, never mind make a quadruple bogey at a key stage of a tournament.
Mickelson is experienced enough though to know that these things happen and ultimately, he just has to get over it and get on with his game.
Indeed, over on X, Mickelson has posted about his round and admitted that his entire opening day was effectively ruined by two bad swings.
Mickelson is looking to keep up what has been a good run of form on LIV in 2025, albeit he is still yet to win on there since the tour’s inception.
Now into his 50s, Mickelson knows time is running out in terms of being able to add one more win although Mickelson did hint he’d not quite be done with US Opens just yet prior to this tournament.
Still, it’s good to see Phil competing still. Although, it has to be said, he’ll be nowhere near winning any golf tournament if he keeps adding nines and doubles to his cards!
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