Stenson and Reed share LIV Golf lead amid strange Bedminster scenes

Phil Mickelson was heckled before his opening shot at the Trump National Golf Club event.

ART OF THE DEAL: Former US president Donald Trump talks with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and Majed Al-Sorour, CEO of Golf Saudi, on the 16th hole during the first round of the Bedminster Invitational LIV Golf tournament.

Shortly after the three-man paratrooper unit of former US Navy Seals carrying a jumbo-sized American flag touched down amid the screaming guitars of AC/DC’s Thunderstruck at ear-splitting volumes, Phil Mickelson was interrupted by a heckler as he stood over his first shot on the 16th tee.

“Do it for the Saudi royal family!” Talk about awkward. The six-time major champion stepped away from his ball, composed himself as the gallery stirred before depositing his tee shot into a greenside bunker. And it only got stranger from there on a muggy, overcast Friday afternoon as the third event of the controversial LIV Golf Invitational Series creaked to life at Trump National Golf Club in the central New Jersey farm town of Bedminster.