It all started with an outgoing Tour pro bored on a long flight and ended with an inside look at one of the most talked-about secrets on the PGA Tour.
“Have some time left on a long flight and I’m bored. Let’s do a little Q&A. Ask away in the comments and I’ll let it rip,” Harry Higgs tweeted after missing the cut at the 3M Open at the end of July. ‘
A question came in about Higgs participating in The Match series, the made-for-TV-exhibitions headed up by Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods. In a sense, Higgs threw down the gauntlet.
I’ll play with anyone. And I don’t think @PhilMickelson is ready for my trash talk
— Harry Higgs (@harryhiggs1991) July 26, 2021
Naturally, Mickelson responded that he was game for money match, and the planning began. Mickelson invited Higgs out to play on Tuesday of WGC-St. Jude Invitational, but there was one problem: Higgs hadn’t qualified for the limited-field event.
Tuesday in Memphis. See you in the am in a week
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) July 26, 2021
And folks this is why Phil is the greatest. You swing at the greats you better not miss. It’ll have to be Tuesday at Liberty National I didn’t qualify for Memphis. But I’m game!
— Harry Higgs (@harryhiggs1991) July 26, 2021
Instead, the date was set for Tuesday of The Northern Trust, this week’s first leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
“Of course, I knew he wasn’t in Memphis,” Mickelson said on Tuesday. “I wouldn’t be dropping those lines if I didn’t know. It’s like a lawyer, you don’t ask a question you don’t already know the answer to.”
The teams were set: Higgs and Keith Mitchell vs. Mickelson and Joel Dahmen; the stakes: unknown, but expected to be high.
As the match neared, the trash talk continued and rolled over onto the first tee where Phil fired an opening salvo by identifying his ball with his personal logo, made famous by his first of six major championship victories.
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“I’m hitting a Callaway with a jumping me on it,” Mickelson said. “It’s from when I won the Masters. What are you guys using?”
From there, it was on with Mickelson providing a hole-by-hole running commentary.
And so it begins
Harry and Keith (underdogs) teed off first
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) August 17, 2021
Kevin/Keith hits it in the water but partner Harry makes birdie for a 1 up start.
Always nice to give opponents a false sense of security
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) August 17, 2021
Kevin/Keith missed another green and left Harry hanging but he scraped out a par to tie and remain 1 up
Happy for him
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) August 17, 2021
Kevin/Keith decides to tag in and join the group which is nice. His 15 footer for birdie to tie Joel’s tap in goes in the hole and they are 1 up through 3.
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) August 17, 2021
Harry drains a 30 footer on 4 to go 2 up 😳
I saw things playing out differently in my mind
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) August 17, 2021
Joe Da Man birdies 5 and we are only one down.
This is more what I was envisioning
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) August 17, 2021
When I tag in I like to do it with a bit of “flair.”
So I EAGLED 6 to go all square— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) August 17, 2021
The look in their eyes when the EAGLE went down…….PRICELESS
The fear can be seen by all
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) August 17, 2021
The train is now rolling and it’s a FREIGHT TRAIN BABY. my driver 8 iron on the 515 yard 7th to 4 foot has us 1 up. Free swinging Keith is gone replaced Kevin.
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) August 17, 2021
Joel hits a beautiful 8 footer that lips out so we tie 8 with pars. Still 1 up
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) August 17, 2021
You know the saying “first one in wins?”
Well not this time. Harry rolls in a thirty footer only to watch DaMan top him from 10 feet
1 up through 9. Good guys— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) August 17, 2021
Pars on 10. Still 1 up. Time to pull away
Critical point in the match now— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) August 17, 2021
10&11 are tough and we all tied with pars. 1 up on 12 tee. This is where we pull away. Need to make 3 here on 12
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) August 17, 2021
After a nasty bomb and wedge to 4 feet, my ❤️came through and I missed it to stay 1 up. This empathy is new for me. Not sure how I feel about it. 🤔
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) August 17, 2021
It’s all coming together now folks. Joel and I both birdie 13 to go 2 up and everyone here (and on Twitter) can sense the inevitable. We should have Keith off the course well before his 2:30 deadline. You’re welcome as Bubba would say 😏
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) August 17, 2021
All pars on 14 and they are running out of holes 😔
Good guys. 2 up!
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) August 17, 2021
Keith rolls in a 10 footer for birdie on 15!😁
Only to watch Joel roll it in on top of him from 8 feet. Devastating
2 up with 3 to play
EXACTLY as planned— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) August 17, 2021
Both sides birdie the reachable 16th(jeol&harry)and we are dormie 2
I love dormie
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) August 17, 2021
3&1 is the final ladies and gentlemen. Joel earns the title “DaMan” with a third birdie in a row and put us 1 up on the press too😉
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) August 17, 2021
“So, we lost 1.5 of the original bet,” Higgs said after the match. “It stung because it has to go from my pocket to someone else’s pocket, but it was reasonable. I ran my big mouth and a Hall of Famer put me in my place,”
“We had the outcome we were all expecting and we were hoping for,” Mickelson said. “The key was to win in a way that’s not so dominant that they believe they can’t win and they come back for more and I think they are. They actually want more.”
No rematch is scheduled… yet, but from the sounds of things — and the fervor with which the match was followed on social media — a Higgs/Mickelson made-for-TV match could generate some eyeballs.
