Tiger vs. Phil: Round 1 highlights from The Players Championship

Tenth hole

Tiger Woods began his second nine of the day with a 238-yard drive down the left into the fairway bunker. With 159 yards to the hole, he hit his second shot well past the hole to the fringe more than 60 feet away. He left himself an eight-foot tester for par but as he’s done so many times in the past, he rolled it in to save par.

Mickelson striped a 269-yard drive down the fairway and hit his approach to just over 29 feet. He came up less than a foot short on his birdie attempt and tapped in for par to stay two behind Tiger.

Woods: E

Mickelson: +2

Eleventh hole

Tiger hit his drive into the trees at the 558-yard, par-5 eleventh and couldn’t take a run at the green in two. He hit his second back out into the fairway and was left with 116 yards to the pin for his third. He hit his approach to just under 26 feet but rolled his birdie putt about 20 inches past the hole and tapped in for a par.

Mickelson hit a 285-yard drive down the left side of the fairway and with 251 yards left, he reached the green in two but went well past the hole, leaving himself a tough putt up and over a mound. He hit a beautiful lag from over 57 feet to 23 inches and tapped in for his second birdie of the day to get back to 1-over.

Woods: E

Mickelson: +1

Twelfth hole

The twelfth hole at TPC Sawgrass is a drivable par-4 at just 302 yards and I was very surprised to see Mickelson not to take a run at it. He chose to go short but it didn’t quite work out as he found the bunker on the left. But he only had 81 yards to the hole and hit a beautiful approach to just over five feet and drained the birdie putt to get back to even for the day.

Tiger also chose not to go for it but hit a solid iron down the fairway and left himself just 56 yards in. He hit a fantastic second to about three-and-a-half feet and also converted his birdie to maintain a one-shot advantage and got to red numbers for the first time.

Woods: -1

Mickelson: E

Thirteenth hole

Mickelson was first to tee off at the 181-yard, par-3 thirteenth but didn’t hit his best shot and was left with nearly 43 feet for birdie. He left it just short and tapped in for a par.

Tiger also left himself a lengthy look at birdie, leaving his tee shot about 40 feet away. He also left his putt short but knocked in the par putt to stay at 1-under.

Woods: -1

Mickelson: E

Fourteenth hole

The fourteenth hole is the longest par-4 on the golf course and Phil Mickelson’s troubles at the end of his round began with his tee shot finding the bunker on the left. He only had 151 yards left to the hole but he couldn’t quite recreate his sand magic from two holes ago. He left his second shot short and then went over the green from there, his ball landing in the smallest bunker you’ll ever see. An awkward stance led to another poor shot that didn’t make the green and then he chose to putt through a drain off the green and his misery finally ended with an eight-footer for double-bogey. Ouch.

Tiger found the right rough off the tee, which he did often on this day, and had 201 yards left for his second. He hit his approach to the right of the green and he left himself another testy putt for par after hitting his third to nearly 16 feet. But he was once again able to save par with a fantastic effort.

Woods: -1

Mickelson: +2

Fifteenth hole

Tiger hit a long drive at the 470-yard, par-4 fifteenth but it found the fairway bunker and he was left with a very awkward shot as his ball had settled right next to the lip. Doing the best he could, he got the ball out but was still 25 yards short of the green. He hit a nice third to about six feet but hit his par putt through the break and made bogey.

Mickelson also made bogey on the hole. He found the rough on his drive, found yet another bunker on his second and hit his third to just under 17 feet. But he also had a little too much and dropped another shot.

Woods: E

Mickelson: +3

Sixteenth hole

Tiger hit a perfect 288-yard drive down the right side of the fairway at the 523-yard, par-5 sixteenth and thought he hit the perfect approach from 251 yards away on his second shot. He started walking after it, only to see his ball curl away from the hole and down into the well just off the back of the green. But he played a beautiful third and tapped in from just under two feet for a birdie to get back to 1-under.

As for Phil, his round just kept getting worse. He went short off the tee and was left with 282 yards for his second and it just got away from him as he hit into the water. After the penalty, he still couldn’t find the green on his fourth shot but finally did with his fifth. Two putts later, he added another double to his card and fell six shots behind Woods.

Woods: -1

Mickelson: +5

Seventeenth hole

Tiger’s tee shot at the famed par-3 seventeenth was eerily reminiscent of his tee shot there the last time these two played together at The Players in 2001, the “better than most” putt that I referenced in the intro. The pin placement was different but Woods still had a tricky putt down the slope from more than 62 feet away. He didn’t make this one but it was a very good effort and he tapped in for a par.

Phil Mickelson continued to struggle as he once again donated a ball to the water, one of many to do so at this hole on Thursday. He went to the drop zone and hit his third to about 22 feet away and another two-putt led to another double-bogey.

Woods: -1

Mickelson: +7

Eighteenth hole

After going right numerous times off the tee, Tiger Woods picked the wrong time to go left as his tee shot found the water that runs down the left side of the eighteenth hole. He had 270 yards to the pin for his third and found the right rough. He hit his fourth onto the green to about 11 feet and made a gutsy bogey putt to finish at even for the day, six shots back of the leaders.

Phil Mickelson hit a solid drive down the right side of the fairway and was left with 199 yards to the hole. He hit a nice approach to just under 14 feet and it looked for a moment that he was going to get a shot back from TPC Sawgrass but his birdie putt just slid by and he had to settle for a par. But at least it wasn’t a double so there’s that.

Woods: E

Mickelson: +7

So while neither man lit up the course and certainly have work to do on Friday, it was still fun to watch Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson play alongside one another, especially in a setting as wonderful as The Players Championship. They’re back at it on Friday morning at 8:27 a.m. ET for Round 2.

Next: Top 10 shots in Masters history

Did you enjoy watching Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson play together at The Players Championship? Do you think either will make the cut? Feel free to join in the conversation in the comments section below.