Phil Mickelson Loses $5000 to 17-Year Old Ryan Ruffels

Golf Digest recently broke a story about  17-year old, soon-to-be Australian pro Ryan Ruffels, who got caught up in a friendly wager with Hall-of-Fame golfer Phil Mickelson.

According to Matt Murmane in the Sydney Morning Herald, the young golfer had an experience of a lifetime.  Ruffels was quoted saying, “We get on the first tee, it’s pretty early in the morning and [Phil] says, ‘I don’t wake up this early to play for any less than $2500.”

The funny thing about this story is that 17-years old Ryan probably doesn’t have 2 AUD (Australian Dollars) to his name while Phil was reported to be worth $160 million dollars.  With that kind of bank it’s not hard to imagine that Mickelson probably carries $5000 in the small zipper pouch of his golf bag.

The bet was simple: Phil laid out the stakes and told Ryan that if he beats him, he’ll pay him $5000.  But this was no one-way wager.  If Phil got the best of him Ryan was to pay Mickelson $2500 when he turned pro.  I don’t know about you, but I’d take that bet all day long.

Keep in mind that even at just 17 years old Ruffels is no hack—he is set to make his debut at the Farmers Insurance Open in just two weeks.

#VicOpen on Instagram: “”The end of the equation is good golf and the rest will come,” Ryan Ruffels on turning professional ⛳️ #Ruff #professional #golf #superstar #RyanRuffels @ryan_ruffels “

VicOpen shared a post on Instagram: “”The end of the equation is good golf and the rest will come,” Ryan Ruffels on turning professional ⛳️ #Ruff #professional #golf #superstar #RyanRuffels @ryan_ruffels “. Follow their account to see 978 posts.

In the end, Ruffels ended up winning the match even after being down a few strokes through 9-holes.  The budding young star strung together an impressive 6 birdie run in his last 7 holes to take the win.

What’s even more important about this story is that this kid could be the next young sensation out on the PGA TOUR and it looks as if his first “victim” was a 42-time PGA TOUR winner.

If I we’re Ryan, I’d put that $5K to good use as he begins his career and I certainly wouldn’t stop bragging about this story!

H/T Golf Digest. Cover Photo via Instagram