Phil Mickelson reacts to Liberty Vs Oregon referee fiasco after fans were left divided by incident

Phil Mickelson is one of the active golfers on social media, especially X, where he interacts with fans and other people. He shares his views and comments without any filter and doesn't shy away from calling a spade a spade.

Recently, Mickelson reacted to the referee fiasco that occurred during the Liberty Vs Oregon March Madness game and said:

"Classy move here by the ref. Love this."

During the recent match between the Liberty Flames and Oregon Ducks, with less than a minute remaining, there wasn't much left in the game as Oregon was leading the game with a score of 78 to 46.

A youngster and freshman from Liberty JC Shirer Jr. was sitting on the sidelines looking to come in and get some game time. However, with one final minute remaining, there weren't any expectations of fouls or any stoppage of play for a substitute to come in.

So the referee made it seem like he was cleaning a wet spot, which allowed the Liberty player to get some game time. This move by the referee was appreciated by many as there was no harm, with the game already basically over, with Oregon moving ahead in the next round. Although some in the comments section weren't as thrilled by the referee's call.

So even Phil Mickelson appreciated this gesture from the referee and said he loved this.

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When will Phil Mickelson compete next?

Phil Mickelson has made a decent start to the year despite missing the first event of the year, LIV Golf Riyadh, due to injury. In the three LIV Golf events he has played, Mickelson has finished T23, solo third, and T13.

Phil Mickelson at the LIV Golf Hong Kong - Source: Getty

He will now tee it up at the 2025 LIV Golf Miami, which is all set to begin on April 4th at the Trump National Doral, USA, just a week before the first major championship of the year, the 2025 Masters.

So the left-handed golfer will have two back-to-back in the upcoming weeks, where he can use the LIV Golf Miami event as preparation event for the Masters. During the 2025 LIV Golf Hong Kong event, Mickelson said he is aiming for his fourth green jacket this year.

"So that's actually right in my thought process," Mickelson said. "However, for me to play well there, I've got to build into it, which makes this tournament even more important."

The six-time major championship winner added that he played well at Adelaide but didn't putt well.

"I played well at Adelaide, didn't putt well. I played well here, cleaned up some things, made some good putts throughout the three days, and then keep cleaning it up, get sharper and sharper and feeling that pressure and that excitement coming down the stretch, that only gets me more ready for Augusta. But I need to keep building and keep improving, keep fine-tuning," Mickelson said.

The 2025 Masters is all set to begin on April 10th at the Augusta National Golf Club with Scottie Scheffler looking to defend his title.