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For the past several years, the golf universe has been salivating over the prospect of a rivalry that wouldn’t just match two of the most dominant golfers in the history of the sport, but also two guys who grew up a short drive from each other: San Diego’s Phil Mickelson and Cypress native Tiger Woods. If it finally did happen, golf fans across the world would have a front-row seat on the kind of rivalry that has only happened once before in the sport: two of the world’s top players from the same geographic area competing at the top of their games. You have to go back to the halcyon days of Byron Nelson and Ben Hogan for such a battle. Though closer in age than Phil and Tiger, Nelson and Hogan both grew up around Dallas. They competed against each other constantly as teenagers. Along with Sam Snead, the duo dominated golf in the 1940s and early ’50s. From 1943 to 1948, the two combined for an astonishing 80 victories, including four majors and three Los Angeles Opens. With the exception of Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus in the early 1960s, the golf world has yet to see anything like it. That’s why the Tiger-Phil rivalry has been like catnip to golf writers. You can’t find two more different players, with Tiger serving as ubergolfer, an incredible specimen of golf fitness possessed with cyber-like focus on the course. Then there’s Phil, who also has an all-universe game, but who is as well-known for his friendly demeanor and monumental collapses as he is for his wins. Everyone seems to admire and idolize Tiger. But they love Phil, as his growing number of fans across the country can attest. It’s time for the two to finally face off in the final round of a major with neither holding a big lead. With his victory last month in the Players Championship, Mickelson is ranked second in the world, next to Woods. And he’s working with Tiger’s old swing coach, Butch Harmon. With major season now upon us, this seems like the most opportune time yet for these two giants to wage a titanic battle. Ten times they’ve both finished in the top 10 in majors together, with the closest coming at the 2006 Masters, where Mickelson beat Woods by two. But they weren’t in the final pairing and Mickelson had the tournament won by the 72nd hole. Long story short: no riveting finish or last-minute drama between these two eminently dramatic players. So, we say enough is enough — it’s time. And it seems like an even playing field for both. The U.S. Open this month is at Oakmont in Pennsylvania, a venue Tiger’s never played in a major and where Mickelson finished tied for 47th in 1994. The British Open is at Carnoustie, where, in 1999, Mickelson missed the cut while Tiger finished seventh. And the PGA is at Southern Hills in Tulsa, another course Woods hasn’t prowled in a major, but where Mickelson finished third in 1994. These guys still have many solid years left, but we’re crossing our collective fingers in hopes that 2007 will finally be the year that a long-awaited rivalry becomes something more than a dream among golf writers, publishers and, most important, fans. SG |
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