Phil Mickelson defeats Tiger Woods with ‘Tiger Killer’ in front of fans at LIV Golf Jeddah 2024
Phil Mickelson defeats Tiger Woods with ‘Tiger Killer’ in front of fans at LIV Golf Jeddah 2024
Phil Mickelson seems to be back to normal. Before the Masters, the southpaw led the team in strokes per round in Jeddah. Once the new statistics were revealed, fans couldn’t help but wonder if the High Flyers captain wanted to surpass Tiger Woods at the end of his career.
Phil Mickelson failed in breakaway leagues in his first two seasons. T8 at LIV Chicago in 2022 and T9 at LIV Bedminster last year are his best performances in the rookie league. However, as his first round stats show, Mickelson’s game looks sharper heading into the second round in Jeddah. LIV Golf posted on its Instagram account that Phil Mickelson was the first round leader. The 24-year-old southpaw had a better performance than he did in 2017 when he led the tour with 27.21 strokes per round. The veteran golfer made seven birdies in the first round in Jeddah on the under-65s card at Royal Greens Country Club.
In his final appearance in Las Vegas, Mickelson’s 1.56 ERA was the 11th best. Significantly, the 45-time PGA Tour winner is using a new putter at Economic City King Abdullah. Mickelson parted ways with his longtime partner Callaway earlier this year. In Jeddah, the former Masters champion used the L.A.B Golf DF3 for his short game.
Jon Rahm, on the other hand, had the last round with an 8-under 62. However, the Spanish international had to share leadership with Adrian Melonk. Dean Burmester had the longest drive with 354 yards. Meanwhile, Bryson DeChambeau was leading the Green Party on regulation.
But it was Mickelson’s round that grabbed everyone’s attention. His improved putting statistics have led to unexpected comparisons to Tiger Woods, who withdrew from the Genesis Invitational a few weeks ago.
Mickelson is ahead of Woods, according to LIV fans
With the Masters a month away, Mickelson hopes to play in his fourth tournament at Augusta. Meanwhile, Woods is hoping to finish sixth on his favorite course. However, one fan commented: “Phil pulled a tiger killer.” Another fan pointed out that Mickelson is in much better shape than his main rival. “He looks much better than Tiger.” Tiger Woods shot a 1-over 72 in the first round, with his putt on No. 18 drawing attention.
Some of them noted that Mickelson’s new putter worked wonders. “Phil’s putter change went well,” one user said of his new LAB putter. But some fans were still excited about Mickelson’s 24 putts in the first round. Despite the fact that the left-hander is 53 years old, he has no plans to quit. “24 strikes!?!?,” one confused Instagram user commented. Some fans looked at the bigger picture. They noted that the leaderboard seemed more crowded than at the Mexican Open. “That was a much better ranking than Great Value Player on the PGA Tour last week,” one golf fan wrote. One user took a slightly different approach, commenting that Rahm will dominate LIV Golf like Woods did on the PGA Tour. “Lamb will be the tiger on this tour.” The Spaniard, a close teammate of Phil Mickelson, has two top-10 finishes and also led in Jeddah.
