Phil Mickelson wins Duel with Tiger Woods as pay-per-view coverage Sputters

It took 22 holes for Phil Mickelson to beat Tiger Woods in their $ 9 million, winner-take-all golf duel on Friday in North Las Vegas, Nev. The four extra holes forced the pair to finish after dusk and under the lights at Shadow Creek Golf Course, but the most dramatic development of this practice match was perhaps the faltering of pay-per-view coverage.

The game, presumably the first pay-per-view venture of golf, would have to cost $ 19.99 to watch, but many people got it for free because of a failure at one of the outlets. (The Shadow Creek gallery was limited to invitees.)

B / R Live – the sports streaming platform for Turner Sports, which produced the duel between Woods and Mickelson – had technical problems at the time of purchase, a spokesperson said from Turner. There were numerous online complaints from customers who had paid to see the match but could not access the stream. B / R Live removed the payment requirement and delivered the contest for free on an open platform.

"We have experienced a number of technical problems at B / R Live that have temporarily affected users' access to The Match," said Nate Smeltz, Turner's spokesperson, in a statement. "We have taken a number of steps to resolve the issue, with the main priority being delivering content to those who have purchased the pay-per-view event."

Turner, he said, did not know how many people had affected the technical problems.

The contest was also available for a fee through cable operators and DirecTV, but only people who bought via B / R Live were struck by the glitch, according to the statement. Those other providers may have lost potential customers when the match was available for free on B / R Live.

Many pay-per-view events, such as the Conor McGregor-Floyd Mayweather fight last year, have been plagued by problems because most customers postpone their purchase until shortly before the event, overwhelming systems . And while cable and satellite operators have had dozens of years to figure out how to handle the demand, new online streaming platforms have not.

For the win Mickelson made a four-legged birdie-putt on a specially set-up yard, par 3. Mickelson was 1-up after 16 holes, but Woods tied it with a birdie from the edge of the green on the par-3 17th hole.

Both birdied the par-5 18th and then parred the first playoff hole before it went to the par-3 extra hole they continued to play until there was a winner.