Phil Mickelson not happy with newly-minted Aussie pro’s wager story
Phil Mickelson went public on Wednesday to teach an Aussie teen prodigy who just turned pro a lesson on when to keep his mouth shut.
Ryan Ruffels turned pro this month at the age of 17, and he’s competing this week in the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego. However, before he made the choice to turn pro, he was heavily recruited by Mickelson’s alma mater, Arizona State University, whose men’s team is coached by the five-time major winner’s brother, Tim. Early on in the process, Phil made a surprise call to Ruffels to gauge his interest in the program. Ruffels relayed that story to the Aussie press, which made its way around the world, and forced Tim to name his brother an “interim assistant coach” for the program — in part, to avoid any controversy with the NCAA.
Then, when Ruffels announced to much fanfare that he had turned pro, he relayed another story to the Sydney Morning Herald about a round he played with Lefty. In the SMH account, Mickelson told Ruffels on the first tee that he would play for a $2,500 wager, giving him 2-to-1 odds and that, if Ruffels lost, he could pay up when he turns pro.
In the aftermath of that story, there was open questioning if the round was part of the recruiting process and if that would constitute some kind of NCAA violation. Ruffels responded on social media by saying the story was exaggerated and that he had already decided to turn pro when the round in question happened.
However, the damage had been done, and Mickelson, who is also in Farmers Insurance Open, responded to the situation on Wednesday, admonishing Ruffels.
“He’s young, and he’s got some things to learn,” Mickelson said.
“One of them is you don’t discuss certain things. You don’t discuss specifics of what you play for. And you certainly don’t embellish and create a false amount just for your own benefit. So those things right there are – that’s high school stuff, and he’s going to have to stop doing that now that he’s out on the PGA Tour.”
Mickelson, who occasionally works through the media to raise issues and concerns on Tour or in the sport, may have done so again here. However, it would seem likely Mickelson had a similar conversation – in private – with the teen.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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