Mickelson keen to play with his pal Tiger again
PHIL MICkELSON has raised the remarkable possibility of resuming his failed Ryder Cup pairing with Tiger Woods — regarded as one of the biggest mistakes in the tournament’s history.
Mickelson and Woods lost their opening fourball and foursomes matches in 2004, after being sent out together by American captain Hal Sutton — and it was considered a major blunder that would never be repeated.
But the relationship between the two golfing greats has vastly improved in the last few years and when Mickelson was asked yesterday for his reaction to them teeing off together 14 years on, he said: ‘I think we would both welcome it. And I do have an idea of what Captain Furyk is thinking.”
Woods and Mickelson have been practising at Le Golf National in the same pod — groups of four players who Furyk is expected to pair in different combinations. The other two in the Woods-Mickelson group are Patrick Reed and Bryson DeChambeau.
Mickelson traced his new friendship with Woods back to the last Ryder Cup in Hazeltine when Tiger was one of the vice- captains because he was sidelined by a chronic back injury.
Mickelson said: ‘We started to really work together to succeed in the Ryder Cup.
‘I think we realised we both have a lot more in common than we thought and we both appreciate working together to achieve things. I’ve really enjoyed my time with him. It’s really been fun.
‘Our minds work a lot more similarly than what we might have thought — the way we go about things and the way we look at things; our work ethic and so forth.’
Mickelson’s issue with that ill-fated pairing at Oakland Hills in 2004 was that they were given only two days’ notice.
In foursomes play back then, the same model ball had to be used throughout.
Woods played with a high-spin ball and Mickelson a low-spin one.
So Mickelson was forced to spend a five-hour session getting to grips with Tiger’s ball, neglecting his usual tournament preparation.