Tiger Woods Loses $9 Million Face-Off

Phil Mickelson claimed the $9million winner-takes-all prize in a dramatic duel with Tiger Woods which finished under floodlights in Las Vegas.

The matchplay between the two Americans went to a 22nd hole before Mickelson, 48, sunk a four-foot putt for victory.

Woods, 42, chipped in on the 17th to stop Mickelson putting for the match, then missed a chance himself from eight feet on the first extra hole.

That led to a sudden-death playoff on a 93-yard hole which Mickelson edged.

With 19 majors between them and two decades at the top of the game, Woods and Mickelson are two of the most recognisable golfers on the planet and this head-to-head battle was the latest chapter in an enduring rivalry.

“I’m just trying to calm down, my heart can’t take any more, it was such an incredible opportunity,” Mickelson, a five-time major champion, said.

“He’s the greatest of all time but to have a little bit of smack talk for the coming years means a lot to me because I don’t have a lot on him!”

Playing under the lights was a suitably extraordinary finish to an event which, although lacking quality as a sporting spectacle, had promised to show golf as it had never been seen before.