Tiger and Phil set to reunite

Jim Furyk is poised to reunite the most controversial partnership in Ryder Cup history by pairing Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.

The two oldest members of the United States team went out together on the first day of official practice for the 2018 tournament starting in Paris tomorrow, in the company of Masters champion Patrick Reed and rookie Bryson DeChambeau as Furyk put into motion the famous ‘‘pod system’’ introduced by Paul Azinger 10 years ago.

It is understood Woods is chalked down with DeChambeau and Mickelson with Reed, but the Woods-Mickelson combination is also in Furyk’s thoughts.

Mickelson encouraged the speculation – backed up by insiders – in his press conference. ‘‘We would both welcome it,’’ Mickelson said. ‘‘And I do have an idea of what captain Furyk is thinking, yeah.’’

Obviously, Furyk is also ready to split up the crack Reed-Jordan Spieth pairing which would be another huge shock.

They have won five out of seven points in the last two Ryder Cups and were considered a certainty to tee it up when the match begins.

But in terms of headlines, their uncoupling would be nothing compared to the reformation of the Woods-Mickelson marriage

Hal Sutton, the 2004 captain, was pilloried for throwing the then world No 1 and No 2 together at Oakland Hills as they were beaten in both the fourballs and the foursomes on the first day. Just two years ago, Mickelson accused Sutton of ‘‘putting us in a position to fail and we failed monumentally’’. Sutton has never lived it down.

The 60-year-old from Louisiana was upset by those comments at Hazeltine and Mickelson was keen to avoid criticising Sutton when asked how the partnership might differ this time around.

Mickelson dared to suggest that the different golf balls he and Woods used were the reason for the duo’s failure in the record defeat.

However, they were barely on speaking terms back then, with Mickelson famously once telling Woods in a lift: ‘‘I will not be your b ..... ’’ Now their relationship is better than it has ever been, so much so they have even arranged a US$9 million (NZ$13.5m) winner takes all shootout in Las Vegas in November.