Tiger Woods vs Phil Mickelson: Sergio Garcia doesn’t care, Tommy Fleetwood would take the millions

Phil Mickelson’s US$9 million winner-takes-all showdown with Tiger Woods has divided opinion in the golfing world but the feeling at the Honma Hong Kong Open on Friday was one of indifference, with Sergio Garcia especially uninterested.

“Don’t care,” was Garcia’s response when asked about it, while Fleetwood said he had didn’t have much of an opinion.

Billed as “The Match” and taking place at Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas, the match-up, which begins at 4am Saturday morning (Hong Kong time), is purely for pay-per-view purposes and spectators are not allowed on course.

Englishman Eddie Pepperell, who was supposed to play in Hong Kong but pulled out with a back injury, is one player who has been openly critical of the concept, but Fleetwood wasn’t passing judgment.

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“If I had the option to play for $10 million I wouldn’t turn it down,” he said. “But I don’t have a massive opinion on it.

“Whether it’s good for golf or not we will see. It’s clearly getting a lot of interest but we won’t know until after it happens if people have liked it or not, if it’s gone very badly or if it’s gone very well.

“Whether it’s the future of golf or not I don’t know. It’s the first time anything like this has ever been done and it is the two biggest legends of the game that are still playing so they are worthy of it.”