That many players like to bet on the golf course is not news, but things change if the protagonist is none other than Phil Mickelson and on top of that, it transpires how much money was at stake.
Nothing would have happened if 17-year-old Orlando-born Ryan Ruffels had not revealed his deal with the famous American left-hander.
It all started when Ruffels, who grew up from the age of 11 in Australia, told a Sydney newspaper that in a round prior to the Farmers Insurance Open he accepted a bet proposed to him by Mickelson. “We were on the first tee, it was very early in the morning, and he said to me, ‘I don’t get up that early to play for less than $2,500.’
The winner of 42 tournaments on the American Tour offered to pay 2 to 1 to his rival if he beat him. If Mickelson won, Ruffels would pay him 2,500 dollars, and if the opposite happened, the young player would receive 5,000 dollars from the American champion.
Ruffels had an extraordinary final round in which he birdied six of the last seven holes and won by one stroke over Mickelson, who had to pay him the agreed amount.
Mickelson, a five-time major winner, was not at all pleased that his young rival made the bet public through the newspaper and said the story had been extremely exaggerated and that the $5,000 figure was inaccurate.
“He is young and has some things to learn. One of them is not to talk about certain things, not to reveal details. And certainly not to brag about a false amount just to get publicity. He’s not in high school anymore, and he’s going to have to stop doing that now that he’s on the PGA Tour.”
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