Phil: Tiger is the best we’ve seen
THE last time Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson walked the fairways together at the Players Championship was in the third round in 2001, when the former had three majors on his mantelpiece and was a month away from making it four at the Masters to complete the Tiger Slam. ‘It sucked playing with him back then, it really did,’ said Mickelson, opening up for perhaps the first time in his career on what it was like going up against Woods in his prime. ‘I kept thinking to myself, “How on earth am I ever going to beat him?”’ Mickelson has always been a marvelous talker but never about his great rival. This is the first time they have been grouped together in the first two rounds of a regular PGA Tour event for 20 years. While part of that was down to the fact the organisers did not want to put all their eggs in one basket, there was also the fact the pair could not stand one another. Thankfully, age has brought about a mellowing in both men, and it was a real eye-opener listening to Mickelson on Tiger circa the turn of the century. ‘For anybody today who didn’t witness it, I say to them I don’t think we will ever see that level of play again,’ he said. ‘It was the most remarkable golf in the history of the game and, I think, unrepeatable. I regard what he did at the 2000 US Open (Tiger won it by 15 shots at Pebble Beach) as the greatest golf I’ve ever witnessed and that 12-month stretch thereafter as the best that has been played. ‘Looking back, it was so impressive it was hard to imagine it was actually happening, that he could keep hitting the shots he hit week after week. The guys now, they often ask me, “Come on, Phil, really, how much better could it possibly have been?” And it just goes to show they weren’t there to witness it.’ Mickelson, owner of arguably the best short game of all time, managed to win five majors in the Tiger era and has not given up hope of adding to his tally. At 47, he is playing as well as he has for the past decade. At the US Open next month he will try to complete the career Grand Slam at the major where he has been runner-up on six occasions. Before that, we will get the privilege of watching both men striding side by side at Sawgrass tomorrow and Friday, at a time in life where they retain enough of the magic to suggest there are one or two golden days still ahead. Not to mention enough of an edge. ‘I’ve had the beating of him the last few times we’ve played,’ said Mickelson, smiling. ‘Big picture, though, who’s had the most wins?’ countered Tiger. Three of Woods’ seven events this year have been here in Florida and he has finished in the top 12 each time. ‘Sure, my expectations are rising, but I still can’t help but think back 12 months when I could barely walk, and feel truly thankful that I could actually be here and teeing off alongside Phil,’ he said. Could we see a winner-takes-all, one-off match between the pair at some point? Mickelson set the scene by calling for one, and Woods was happy to accept the challenge. ‘Let’s play for whatever makes him feel uncomfortable,’ Woods said.