“Absolute magic” – Fans react to Phil Mickelson’s 'insane' sand hole-out at The Open’s opening day

Fans on social media have reacted to Phil Mickelson's impressive shot at The Open Championship 2025. The American golfer stole the show in the opening of the major at the Royal Portrush.

Mickelson holed out from a bunker on Thursday. The Open Championship shared a video of the LIV golfer on its X account with a caption:

"A short game masterclass. Mickelson holes out from the sand."

Fans jumped to the comments section and praised the American golfer for his impressive game.

"Absolute magic," a fan wrote.

"Insane shot," another fan added.

"What a chip," one more fan added.

Here are more fan reactions:

"Good job it went in or he would be running after it again," a fan commented.

"Always nice to see a ceremonial golfer provide a highlight on his way to missing the cut," one more added.

"It’s been great coverage so far," a fan wrote.

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A look into Phil Mickelson's performance at the Open Championship 2025

Phil Mickelson' (Image Source: Imagn)

Phil Mickelson shared about his game at the Open Championship on the first tee hole and added a birdie on the second hole. He had a decent start with two birdies on the front nine and a bogey on the back nine. At the time of writing, he had played 13 holes and settled in a tie for sixth place at 1-under.

Mickelson caught people’s attention with his game at the LIV Golf Virginia event last month. In the final round of the Saudi league event, he made a difficult birdie from the bunker on the 17th.

Speaking of that shot back then, Mickelson said, via ASAP Sports:

"So that was one of my better ones. It was one of my better ones. I don't know what to say because I have to aim so far left because I'm hooking it over my shoulder and trying to guess how much it's going to hook is the challenge. But it wasn't hard stopping it.

"It was hard guessing how much it was going to hook because it was soft greens and I had such an uphill lie, the ball was going to go high, but just judging how much the ball was going to come over my shoulder, that was the challenge. Even I was a little bit surprised," he added.

Phil Mickelson had a tough time on the greens this year in the majors. He missed the cut in all three he played earlier this year, but had a good start at the final major of the year.

Meanwhile, on the LIV Golf, Mickelson recorded some amazing finishes this season, including solo third at the Hong Kong event, sixth in Miami, and T4 at Virginia.