We’ve known Phil Mickelson to be quite the gambler, but his 2016 bet with Colt Knost is on another level.
According to this fun tale from Jason Sobel of The Action Network, Mickelson and Knost put a little money on the line that neither of them could influence. It was all up to Jon Rahm.
As it goes within Sobel’s story, Mickelson was very high on Rahm’s future back in 2016, when he was 21 years old and working his way up the professional ranks. To be fair, Mickelson’s brother (and caddie) Tim was Rahm’s head coach at Arizona State and eventually his agent for a few years. The Mickelsons knew well what Rahm’s game was like.
But in June 2016, during a rain delay at the St. Jude Classic, Mickelson raved to Knost about Rahm’s talent. He believed in Rahm so much that he was sure Rahm would be a top 10 player in the world within one year’s time. It’s a lofty bet, to be sure. Rahm was still an amateur at the time, and ranked no. 766 in the world. Seven hundred sixty-sixth! Knost took the bet, and can you blame him? No, you can’t. The 766th-ranked player right now is Kevin Lucas. Who? Enough said there.
But Rahm is different, and obviously so. He finished T23 at the U.S. Open a week later and bagged 12 worldwide top 10s and a victory en route to a rapid ascent to no. 9 in the world. Just like that, Mickelson was proven a genius, and just like that Knost owed him some cash. How much? Knost didn’t divulge much beyond the fact that a comma was involved.
You can check out the full story from Sobel at The Action Network here.