Phil Mickelson wins KPMG Women’s PGA Championship skills demo

If Phil Mickelson wins a golf game with no money on the line, does it count? Well, not for anything more than bragging rights, but that’s exactly what the newly “Bones”-less southpaw did on Monday, when he defeated three of the best women golfers in the world in a short-game skills competition ahead of this week’s second major on the women’s schedule, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

“Unlikely, unlikely,” Mickelson told the Chicago Tribune’s Teddy Greenstein about whether the event featuring defending champion Brooke Henderson and former world No. 1s Lydia Ko and Stacy Lewis — broadcast live on Facebook — would feature money changing hands as it does when he plays practice rounds with fellow PGA Tour players. “I’m a little nervous about playing them.

“Brooke just won two weeks ago [at the Meijer LPGA Classic], Stacy Lewis has an incredible short game, Lydia Ko’s been the No. 1 golfer [now No. 3] on the LPGA Tour the last couple of years, so I’m a little intimidated,” Mickelson said about his opponents in just one one of the activities he is participating in to drum up interest in the tournament. “I’m a little nervous, so I don’t know how much I’m willing to put at risk. But I am excited about the opportunity to see them in person, to see their games, and to take them on.”

Turns out Mickelson had nothing to worry about, as the scoreboard at the end of the video indicates.

Kudos to Lefty for going all in — as a booster, if not a financier — on helping the women break the glass ceiling in the chipping contest in which all four players hit flop shots over an eight-foot wall and attempted to smash panes of glass suspended 20 feet in the air.

In addition to participating in the clash of champions, Mickelson was all over Chicago, handing out tickets to the tourney ...

... and illustrating how easy it is for fans to hop the commuter rail and head out to the game at a course that has staged two U.S. Opens and a host of other major professional and amateur championships.

“This is a premier event on the LPGA Tour. Its one of the largest purses, the best fields,” Mickelson told Greenstein. “The LPGA product right now is really a strong product. They’ve got a great number of good, young, talented athletes and players, and this is a great opportunity to come see them play on a world-class championship course in Olympia Fields.”

Good, young, talented athletes, indeed. Henderson begins the defense of her 2016 title at 9:40 a.m. ET Thursday on the first tee in the company of Ariya Jutanugarn, who lost her world No. 1 spot after two weeks at the top to last week’s Walmart NW Arkansas Championship winner So Yeon Ryu, and Alison Lee. Lewis goes off 10 minutes later with Sandra Gal and Michelle Wie, who hopes to celebrate the third anniversary of her 2014 U.S. Women’s Open with her second major victory.

Ko, who, after earning four Ws last year, has not won a tour event since July’s Marathon Classic, has a 2:50 p.m. date with another formerly top-ranked player, Inbee Park, and eight-time tour winner Lexi Thompson. Thompson is enjoying a strong season, with one win, at last month’s Kingsmill Championship, and four top-two finishes.