Right as Mickelson and Woods geared up on the first tee, things went haywire for the viewers and producers. Even after purchasing the product, the fans could not get on. Turner Sports’s then-president, David Levy, talked about the famous bout at the Fairway to Heaven podcast and said, “On B/R Live we had a lot of subscribers signing on; we took their money, and all of a sudden we could not get through the Amazon firewall.” The match could be seen through TV and cable, but B/R Live suffered a glitch, and the fans were getting impatient. They had bought it for $19.99 and wanted to see it immediately.

Levy had to risk it all. He either could let the paywall be there or remove it and then everyone—those who paid and who didn’t—gets to watch. It could either be the worst pay-per-view experience for the fans or the best match they had seen of Woods & Lefty. Levy chose the latter; eventually, the paywall was removed, and everyone watched the 2018 edition of The Match for free. The downside? Levy said, “As far as the pay-per-view and the money side from the pay-per-view side, my friends on the cable side didn’t pay us a dime… We got no pay-per-view money from the entire event.”

Tiger Woods and Lefty’s match was awkward for a while

Although he missed it, Woods still appreciated him and said, “Good speed,” but Lefty never responded or even lifted his head. It was quiet and awkward for a while; as for the first few holes, the fans could only hear Mickelson’s heavy breathing and Woods’s constant sniffles as his allergies were awakened. When the 6-time major champion was finally ready to talk, he had to talk to anyone within a few feet of him but Woods, as he was being himself on the greens, nontalkative or expressing anything.