Phil Mickelson’s Salty Because A 17-Year-Old Prodigy Shook Him Down On The Golf Course And Publicized It

Ryan Ruffels is the 17-year-old Australian who many talking heads deem golf’s “next big thing.” The son of two professional tennis players, Ruffels played a round with golf great Phil Mickelson as Mickelson attempted to recruit Ruffels to play under his brother Tim, head coach at Arizona State University.

Ruffels spoke with Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald  and was very candid when discussing a cash bet he placed with Mickelson during their round.

“We get on the first tee, it’s pretty early in the morning and he says, ‘I don’t wake up this early to play for any less than $2500’,” Ruffels recalled of a friendly offer made to him by Mickelson.

The 42-time US PGA Tour winner gave Ruffels 2-1 odds; if Ruffels won, Mickelson would give him $5000, if he lost, Ruffels would have to pay up $2500 when he turned professional.

“I was a few down through nine but then I birdied six of my last seven to win by one shot and took his money, so that was pretty cool,” Ruffels said with a laugh.

Mickelson, who last year landed in some hot water after allegedly participating in a large-scale money laundering operation where nearly $3 million were tied to his gambling winnings, was understandably not too impressed with a high-schooler outing the private bet. He told the Golf Channel:

“He’s young and he’s got some things to learn. One of them is you don’t discuss certain things. You don’t discuss specifics of what you play for. And you certainly don’t embellish and create a false amount just for your own benefit. So those things right there are – that’s high school stuff, and he’s going to have to stop doing that now that he’s out on the PGA Tour.”

Old bull vs. young calf. Battle as old as time.

[h/t For the Win]

Matt Keohan Avatar
Matt’s love of writing was born during a sixth grade assembly when it was announced that his essay titled “Why Drugs Are Bad” had taken first prize in D.A.R.E.’s grade-wide contest. The anti-drug people gave him a $50 savings bond for his brave contribution to crime-fighting, and upon the bond’s maturity 10 years later, he used it to buy his very first bag of marijuana.