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Although Phil Mickelson didn't win LIV Golf Virginia, he displayed a glimpse of his vintage self by pulling off an insane backward shot during the final round. The veteran golfer made an overhead short chip near the pin to drain the ball successfully, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
On Sunday, June 8, Mickelson entered the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville in quest of his first-ever LIV Golf title. The six-time major champ played quite well, shooting a 6-under 65 with the help of seven birdies against a lone bogey. However, it was his sixth birdie that stole the limelight on Sunday.
On the par-4, 377-yard 17th hole, Phil Mickelson first landed just in the right rough behind a tree. From there, he managed to escape, but the ball ended up in the rough, just outside the green and near a bunker. Things could have easily gone wrong from there, but the ace golfer used his experience and chipped it backward to send the ball into the cup.
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"It was one of my better ones," - Phil Mickelson reflects on his incredible chip shot at LIV Golf Virginia
During the post-round interview, Phil Mickelson reflected on his brilliant shot-making at LIV Golf Virginia.
"So that was one of my better ones. It was one of my better ones." he said. "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.
The 54-year-old star has been in good form this season and has posted three top-10 finishes, making it his best year on the LIV Golf circuit. Besides, this was his second top-5 finish of the season, coming just before the US Open 2025 week. For the uninitiated, this remains the only major he hasn't won so far, despite six runner-up finishes.
For his T4 finish, Mickelson bagged $775,000 from the $20 million individual purse. Joaquin Niemann, who claimed his sixth win on the Saudi-backed circuit, took home $4 million.
