THE PHIL AND TIGER SHOW...
Big two still dominating the agenda ahead of US PGA
TWO new golf books will hit the shelves this week in time for the 104th USPGA Championship beginning at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Thursday.
One is about Phil Mickelson — ‘golf’s most colourful superstar,’ according to the blurb. The other is about Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson — ‘golf’s most fascinating rivalry.’
All these years on and it’s still the deadly, scandal-ridden and inordinately talented duo who continue to dominate the game’s landscape.
Mickelson won’t even be in Oklahoma this week but, over three preview days at least, you can be sure that his name will get more mentions than everyone else in the current world top five combined.
As if the duo’s litany of achievements on the course wasn’t enough, a large part of the eternal fascination comes from their equally extraordinary lives outside the ropes.
For almost 30 years now, Tiger and Phil have appalled us and enthralled us in almost equal measure. It seems that the price they have to pay for their remarkable gifts and longevity are acts of mind-boggling stupidity that come back to haunt them.
If you think there’s no way back for Mickelson to the heart of his adoring audience after sucking up to the Saudis and alienating virtually all his peers, consider Tiger’s exalted standing these days, a decade on from the disclosure of all his numerous marital infidelities.
Imagine if the lefty returns for the US Open next month and starts well in the only major he’s never won, one where he’s been the bridesmaid on no fewer than six occasions? As with Woods we’d surely see that, when it comes to one of their own, America can be a very forgiving nation.
This time last year, it looked as if the game was finally ready to move on from Tiger and Phil. The former had still to move from his hospital bed following his horrific car crash three months earlier that appeared to rule out any competitive return. Mickelson was 50 and hadn’t posted so much as a top 20 finish in over nine months.
Accordingly, the pair barely got a mention in the build-up but they always come up with something, don’t they? This time it was Mickelson’s turn to step up to the plate at Kiawah Island, becoming the oldest major winner in history with an astonishing performance.
Now the spotlight is back on Tiger. He was so banged up after his remarkable 72-hole comeback at the Masters last month, he was vague about his chances of recovery for the season’s second major.
But he showed up at Southern Hills a fortnight ago and looked positively sprightly in joining the club’s head professional for 18 studious holes. He then moved on to Las Vegas for a concert that benefits his charitable foundation and told guests that he was feeling stronger all the time.
It’s no surprise that he should want to play this week, given he was the victor when the PGA was last held over the same course in 2007 — even if he has had at least ten major operations since then and the venue has also undergone some radical surgery.
As for Mickelson, there’s no forgetting him this week. How can a player get so much, so wrong? We’ve now had three months to grow accustomed as to why you would throw away your feted status as a major champion of unique standing in favour of cheap millions offered by a murderous regime but it continues to defy all decency.
It was thought he would make his comeback at the PGA and front up at the site of his title defence but he clearly lost his nerve at the last minute, filing his withdrawal as late as last Friday night.
Now it seems probable that he will take the appearance fee and make his return at St Albans. Talk about a man with a seriously skewed sense of priorities.