Who’s the best golfer in the world? There was a time Phil Mickelson was a part of the conversation. His rivalry with Tiger Woods propelled him to the top of the world of golf. So he has earned the right to have an opinion about it today. However, many deemed it to be absurd when Mickelson claimed that Joaquin Niemann was the world #1, not Scottie Scheffler. The Chilean has undoubtedly dominated LIV Golf this season. And when Phil made the comment, Scheffler was struggling to get a result in his favor. But things have changed a lot since then.
All three individuals were on the field for the second round of The Open at Royal Portrush. However, only two of them progressed through to the weekend rounds. The player who missed the cut was the one whom Mickelson believes is better than Scheffler. Yes, Niemann narrowly missed the cutline by 1 stroke. This is the second consecutive missed cut for him after he crashed out early in the 2025 U.S. Open a month ago. He will not be playing the last 2 rounds in Northern Ireland. And that left the 26-year-old a little too frustrated. So much so that he ended up stomping his golf bag as shown in a video shared by NUCLR GOLF.
Mickelson made the cut after finishing on par on Friday. And what would frustrate the golf icon even more is that Scheffler sits at the top of the leaderboard. The fact that it is Phil who is in the middle of the two opposite ends, where Scottie and Joaquin are placed, makes the entire situation even more ironic. It is worth noting that Niemann has been on his worst run in LIV Golf over the past couple of events. This is the first time in 2025 when the Chilean hasn’t won every alternate LIV Golf tournament. He finished at T23 in Dallas and Andalucia before taking a trip to Northern Ireland.
🫨 #STOMPING OFF — Joaquin Niemann stomps on his golf bag following a poor performance at The Open. The LIV Golf star has missed the cut at Portrush. pic.twitter.com/LSeEH35OnX
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) July 18, 2025
But the same cannot be said for Scottie Scheffler. The world #1 had already made Phil Mickelson bite the bullet a few months ago. Let’s see how that conversation went.
Scottie Scheffler’s success proves Phil Mickelson wrong
When Phil Mickelson compared Scottie Scheffler to Joaquin Niemann, he had also made a preposterous claim. During the entire drama, the 55-year-old had tweeted, “Here’s a hot take: Does Scottie win in 2025 before the Ryder Cup? I don’t think so,” on March 17, 2025. Fast forward to May 4, 2025, and Scheffler debunked all of Mickelson’s claims. He won The CJ Cup Byron Nelson by 8 strokes.
The golf legend was quick to jump back on X and rectify his mistake. He replied with, “So I might of been off on that one Congrats to Scottie on a great performance ,” under the same tweet. Little did he know, Scheffler was only getting started. Since then, Scottie Scheffler has proven Phil Mickelson wrong two more times with wins in the PGA Championship and the Memorial Tournament. He is also leading the field in The Open Championship while taking a step closer to a Career Grand Slam.
Should the world #1 win the last major of the season and achieve the Grand Slam feat in the near future, then not only will he prove himself to be the best in the world, but he will also achieve a goal Mickelson failed to achieve in his 33-year career.
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