LA JOLLA -- The PGA Tour debut of 17-year-old Ryan Ruffels just got a lot more interesting.
The Aussie teen told a tale to the Sydney Morning Herald about playing with Phil Mickelson at Torrey Pines last month and winning $5,000 off of him. Two days later, Ruffels said the story wasn't accurate.
He wanted to point out that no NCAA rules were violated (he was an amateur playing with Mickelson and his brother, Arizona State golf coach Tim Mickelson) and that the amount was "out of proportion."
Mickelson didn't take too kindly to it all.
"He's young, and he's got some things to learn," Mickelson said. "One of them is you don't discuss certain things. You don't discuss specifics of what you play for. And you certainly don't embellish and create a false amount just for your own benefit. So those things right there are ... that's high school stuff."
Ruffels is making his professional debut at the Farmers Insurance Open Thursday.
