The battle for $9-million came down to a 93-yard par 3 that neither Tiger Woods nor Phil Mickelson could dominate. In fact, it took four playoff holes for Mickelson to prevail, but only after Woods, playing under lights as darkness descended on Shadow Creek outside of Las Vegas, failed to hit the green of the short par three twice in a row.

“My heart can’t take much more,” Mickelson said after winning the pay-per-view exhibition on the 22^nd hole. “This has been such an incredible opportunity to have a day like this with Tiger … to be able to just have a little bit of smack talk for the coming years means a lot to me because I really don’t have a lot on him.”

Truthfully Mickelson prevailed in a match play event that was often short on drama, with both golfers lacking their best, and struggling on the greens.

Key Moments

Forget about the seemingly endless playoff holes, the match truly became interesting on the 17^th hole. Until that point, drama was missing, with neither golfer ever leading by more than one hole. On the par 3 17^th, Woods’ tee shot went long, but in typical Tiger style, he holed the chip to square the match. Once he got to the playoff, Woods appeared to have upper hand, as Mickelson’s approach narrowly missed going in the water. With Woods having eight-feet for par, he left the putt short, forcing the match to be played on a makeshift par three under flights where the pair played from the putting green to the 18^th, where a new hole was rapidly cut. It didn’t matter—Woods missed the green twice. On their third attempt, both hit great wedges, with only Mickelson converting his four-foot putt for the win.

“A day like today is not going to take anything away from Tiger’s greatness,” said Mickelson. “He’s the greatest of all time.”

Highlights

While Mickelson and Woods never seemed uneasy with each other, the banter disappeared after a couple of holes. In its place, former NBA great Charles Barkley was one of the highlights, chirping at both of the players and the quality of the match. At one point Barkley, who has a notoriously awful golf swing, challenged Woods and Mickelson, saying he could beat both of them. In the end, Houston Astros’ star Justin Verlander challenged Barkley, offering $100,000 if the basketball great could make double-bogey on the first hole at Shadow Creek. Barkley said he’d take the bet.

Will it happen again?

That’s unclear. Word is the PGA Tour didn’t want the event to have a $10-million purse as it would appear to compete with the FedExCup. Instead there was a $9-million purse, and a relatively uneventful match. Maybe teams next time? Woods and Rickie Fowler take on Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas?

Side bets

1. Birdie on No. 1 for Phil ($200,000). Tiger wins
2. Closest to the pin on No. 5 ($100,000). Phil wins
3. Closest to the pin on No. 8 ($200,000). Phil wins
4. Putts on No. 8 ($75,000 / $50,000). No winner
5. Eagle on No. 9 ($1 million). No winner
6. Eagle on No. 11 ($200,000). No winner
7. Closest to the pin on No. 13 ($300,000). Phil wins
8. Long drive on No. 14 ($100,000). No winner

Winnings: Phil takes $400K for charity

A special thank you to the hundreds of golf fans that tuned in with us at our viewing parties across the country. Hopefully you took advantage of some of our Black Friday deals too!