Charlie Woods faced his first big defeat of the year! The young protege had a disappointing show at The Junior Invitational at Sage Valley this past weekend as he finished 3-over in the tournament. Having showcased his abilities in a vastly experienced field with his father last year, fans were expecting 2025 to be the breakthrough year for Woods. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case for Tiger Woods‘s son as he has failed to impress at one of the biggest events of the junior season.

However, Miles Russell has a lot to celebrate after he beat Woods and Co. to win the same title. The lefty beat Jackson Byrd by 2 strokes to capture the Junior Invitational title and add his name to the history books. And Russell had another fellow lefty celebrating his victory on X. Although, the reason behind his celebration might be much more than the junior golfer’s amazing win.

That’s because it is Phil Mickelson who recently shared his excitement for Miles Russell over his win at Sage Valley. The veteran golfer retweeted Flushing It’s congratulatory post for Russell and posted “It’s going to be fun watching this young lefty’s career!” While it might be a genuine acknowledgment of the young golfer’s abilities, something tells us there is much more to the story. Especially since Tiger Woods is also involved in the picture in some way.

Either way, receiving a compliment from Phil Mickelson must be an incredible moment for anyone. Having the 45x PGAT winner compare you to himself, will probably put you over the moon. And he completely deserves it after his incredible performance in The Junior Invitational. Let’s take a closer look at how he achieved that.

Charlie Woods’s rival’s incredible comeback at Sage Valley

As many watched on, Charlie Woods failed to leave an impression at Sage Valley. But Miles Russell was incredibly consistent across all four rounds in the par 72 event. At the end of the penultimate day, Russell was 4 strokes behind the top of the leaderboard. The table was led by New Zealand’s Joshua Bai, who was 11-under after 54 holes. Jackson Byrd took the second spot with a 9-under par 207.

However, that didn’t faze Russell a bit, who was determined to maintain his positive run. And while he still managed a 2-under 70 in the final round with only one bogey on the 18th. On the other hand, Bai and Byrd both went over par to forfeit their lead. That led to the Jacksonville Beach local to get the win and capture The Junior Invitational title.

What are your thoughts on Phil Mickelson’s involvement in this situation? Let us know in the comments section.