(Reuters) - Customers who purchased last week's pay-per-view golf match between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson will get a full refund after some fans were allowed to stream the event for free, Turner Sports' Bleacher Report Live said on Thursday.
The match play exhibition at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas was priced at $19.99 but executives were forced to make the event available free via a live stream after technical difficulties prevented some users from accessing the feed.
Since the glitch threatened to keep customers from watching an event dubbed "The Match", a decision was quickly made to drop a pay wall and allow anyone free access to the showdown between the two multiple former major champions.
"Due to a technical issue, we opted to let all visitors, regardless of purchase, view The Match," B/R Live said in an email to those who ordered the event.
"Our top priority was ensuring that purchasers would be able to watch Tiger and Phil in an uninterrupted, high-quality experience.
"We recognise how frustrating that decision was for those who had already paid $19.99 for this event. Therefore, all B/R Live purchasers of Capital One's The Match will be receiving a full refund."
Refunds will be paid within the next few weeks, Bleacher Report said.
Golf's first venture into pay-per-view was hyped like a Las Vegas prizefight but lacked real tension with both golfers in a jovial mood as they played for a $9 million winner-takes-all purse that was put up by sponsors.
Mickelson, 48, birdied the fourth playoff hole in fading light to beat the 42-year-old Woods. [nL2N1XX0XU]
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto, editing by Ed Osmond)