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Phil Mickelson delivered one of the biggest upsets in LIV Golf history on Friday. The ace golfer’s 12th-seeded HyFlyers GC beat Joaquin Niemann’s 5th-seeded Torque GC in the quarter-final. Mickelson and Brendan Steele’s foursomes win helped the team leap onto the semifinals.
Notably, Mickelson was pretty easy coming into the competition. Despite the disparity between the two sides, the HyFlyers skipper made some light-hearted comments about becoming the first team to not have the captain play in the singles portion. The LIV star took a jibe at himself and said he was “really annoying to play against” and it only doubled when partnered with Steele.
Interestingly, Phil Mickelson doubled down on the comments after his side’s quarter-finals win and said his ‘being annoyed’ is an ‘everyday occurrence.’
Replying to a media query on whether he was ‘annoying’ on Friday, the ace golfer said, as quoted by ASAP Sports:
“I mean, that's an everyday occurrence, but I thought today we kept it in check.”
He went on to explain the game which helped take down the in-form Torque GC:
“It's just that you have three options the previous way, and now you have nine options. It allows you as a captain to make the best pairings for each scenario. That flexibility can make a difference in getting your team the best dynamics, the best chance to win. You saw a lot of mix-ups today, and I think we'll probably see the same going into tomorrow as teams try to find their best format.”
Phil Mickelson’s alarming admission of his role in the team
Phil Mickelson made an alarming admission about his role in the HyFlyers GC. Speaking during the teams’ quarter-final picks, the 54-year-old golfer said he put himself in the foursomes’ match-up because of his behavior on the field.
Mickelson jokingly explained, via ASAP Sports:
“Andy Ogletree won the '21 Amateur. He's a very tough match play competitor. Cam Tringale won all his matches last year. I wanted them both in singles. Steeley and I are really annoying to play against. I'm annoying, but when you put me and Steeley, it goes to another level, and I feel like that could be a challenge just dealing with that.”
It is pertinent to note that Phil Mickelson was one of three captains who won playing foursomes on Friday. Stinger’s Louis Oosthuizen teamed with partner Charl Schwartzel to beat Cleeks GC Captain Martin Kaymer and two-time senior major champion Richard Bland while Fireballs’ Sergio Garcia and Abraham Ancer beat Majesticks GC Co-Captain Lee Westwood and Sam Horsfield.
Interestingly, a similar trend continues in the semifinals on Saturday as Ripper GC Captain Cameron Smith announced partnering with Matt Jones in foursomes and Iron Heads’ Kevin Na opting to join Jinichiro Kozuma in foursomes. Mickelson, Oosthuizen and Garcia will also continue to play foursomes.
