Tiger Woods vs. Phil Mickelson: Tale of the tape, head-to-head history

Here’s a look at the tale of the tape and a head-to-head history of two golf icons ahead of the Tiger Woods vs. Phil Mickelson match the day after Thanksgiving.

Yes, this is really happening. The Match: Tiger Woods vs. Phil Mickelson is upon us and the two greatest players of the past quarter-century — well, two of the best players of all time, really — are set to go head-to-head this Friday at the super-luxurious Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas. Oh, did I mention that $9 million is up for grabs?

In an unprecedented move, the sport of golf will host its first-ever pay-per-view event, which certainly hasn’t pleased everyone. Outside of some sponsors and VIPs, no spectators will be out on the golf course with Tiger and Phil and will instead have to purchase the winner-take-all affair for $19.99 via the Bleacher Report Live streaming service or through the AT&T DirecTV or U-verse platforms. There are a few other cable and satellite options out there so be sure to check if your provider will be carrying it.

So what should we expect in a duel between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. These two obviously have a long history and while the duo seems to be getting along these days, that hasn’t always been the case. Some of the stories on HBO’s 24/7 have been very entertaining, including Mickelson just hating to have to put the green jacket on Tiger at the 2005 Masters. Tiger’s rebuttal? He couldn’t remember the details of doing the same the following year. Classic Eldrick.

There are many out there that would say that the 2005-2006 timeframe is more of when this matchup should have taken place. Let’s face it. These guys are getting older and certainly aren’t in the prime of their respective careers. Mickelson is now 48 and less than two years away from being eligible for the Champions Tour. Tiger is a little younger — he’ll turn 43 next month — and did have a fantastic 2018, especially given his recent history of injuries, which culminated with a dramatic win at the Tour Championship, which nearly won him the FedEx Cup. But we’re never going to see a Tiger run like we saw before. Time just doesn’t work that way. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun with this.

Yes, these guys are older. But that doesn’t mean they’re still not two of the best players in the game. Tiger Woods is currently ranked 13th in the world and Mickelson is still ranked 27th. That’s quite impressive given the amount of young talent in the game these days. The fear isn’t there like it was but both of these guys are still pretty damn good on a golf course. So why can’t we just sit back and enjoy this for what it is? Sure, I might enjoy it a little more if it were on free TV but we can’t always get what we want, can we?

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have combined for 123 wins on the PGA Tour and 19 major championships. Only one man, Sam Snead with 82, has more tour victories than Tiger’s 80 and Mickelson’s 43 are only behind Snead, Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Byron Nelson, Billy Casper and Walter Hagen. That’s pretty impressive company. When it comes to major championships, Woods’ 14 is second only to Jack’s 18 but Mickelson’s five is quite impressive as well. That still puts him in the top 15 on the all-time list and with 10 runner-up finishes, including six at the U.S. Open alone, there could have and should have been a few major wins in there.

With more than $203 million in combined career earnings, Tiger and Phil are the two biggest money makers the golf world has ever seen…and that’s on and off the golf course. Some think that they should have put up their own money for this event but we all know that was never going to happen. But that doesn’t mean that the side bets won’t get a little expensive. Yes, there will be side bets and those watching will be able to hear all of it as both will be mic’d up during this match. It should be interesting to see where those bets go.

Here’s a quick little “Tale of the Tape” for Tiger Woods vs. Phil Mickelson.

Events played: Tiger Woods-346, Phil Mickelson-595

Cuts made: Tiger Woods-316 (91.3%), Phil Mickelson-498 (83.7%)

PGA Tour wins: Tiger Woods-80, Phil Mickelson-43

Runner-up finishes: Tiger Woods-31, Phil Mickelson-35

Top-10 finishes: Tiger Woods-193, Phil Mickelson-193

Major championship wins: Tiger Woods-14, Phil Mickelson-5

Top-3 major finishes: Tiger Woods-25, Phil Mickelson-23

Career earnings: Tiger Woods-$115.5 million, Phil Mickelson-$88.3 million

Official World Golf Ranking: Tiger Woods-13, Phil Mickelson-27

Tiger is the clear favorite here and should be. He played at a much higher level than Phil did in 2018 and he obviously got better as the year went on. Mickelson did get a win back in March at the WGC-Mexico and was one of the best putters on the PGA Tour this year…well, outside of that little incident at the U.S. Open anyway. But a hot putter can win a lot of matches. Here’s a look at few of the 2018 stats.

2018 scoring average: Tiger Woods-69.4, Phil Mickelson-70.1

2018 driving distance: Tiger Woods-303.6 yards, Phil Mickelson-300.3 yards

2018 driving accuracy: Tiger Woods-59.35%, Phil Mickelson-52.91%

2018 greens in regulation: Tiger Woods-67.40%, Phil Mickelson-64.88%

2018 strokes gained (putting): Tiger Woods-.266, Phil Mickelson-.510

2018 strokes gained (tee-to-green): Tiger Woods-1.33, Phil Mickelson-0.42

It’s been more than 21 years since Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson first teed it up alongside one another in a professional tournament. The first time came in the final round of the 1997 PGA Championship, just a few short months after Tiger’s historic win at Augusta. Both shot 75 and finished miles behind winner Davis Love III.

The very next week, the two tied once again with matching 72s in the second round of the NEC World Series. Tiger would go on to finish third that week but Mickelson bested him by taking second. Woods jumped out to the first lead in the series with a 68 to Mickelson’s 72 in the second round of the 1997 Tour Championship. But Mickelson evened things at the 1998 Nissan Open with a one-stroke edge in the second round at Riviera. But Tiger bounced back with a three-shot win the following day and would go on to finish in solo second that week, losing a playoff to Billy Mayfair. Tiger would never trail in the head-to-head series with Phil Mickelson again.

The biggest lead in the series has been five, which came after Tiger beat Mickelson in the second round of the 2006 PGA Championship. That put the score at 10-5-3. Phil would close to within one a few times but could never even things up or pull ahead. However, Lefty is responsible for the biggest beating in the series when he outshot Tiger by 11 strokes (64-75) in the final round of the 2012 AT&T Pebble Beach event. Think El Tigre had fun that day? Overall, Mickelson was actually down in the tournament by two strokes to Woods but clobbered him and won his 40th PGA Tour event. Woods has had the edge recently, winning the last three times the two have been paired together, including the first two of The Players Championship earlier this year, and holds the all-time lead at 18-15-4.

In those 37 meetings, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have combined for 5,178 strokes. The difference, you ask? 20 strokes. Over the course of 666 holes, Tiger has taken 2,579 strokes and Phil comes in at 2,599. Fantastic. Here’s a look at every single round Woods and Mickelson have played together in the last 21 years.

1997 PGA Championship (4th round): Tiger Woods-75, Phil Mickelson-75

1997 NEC World Series (2nd round): Tiger Woods-72, Phil Mickelson-72

1997 Tour Championship (2nd round): Tiger Woods-68, Phil Mickelson-72

1998 Nissan Open (1st round): Tiger Woods-68, Phil Mickelson-67

1998 Nissan Open (2nd round): Tiger Woods-73, Phil Mickelson-76

1999 U.S. Open (3rd round): Tiger Woods-72, Phil Mickelson-73

2000 Buick Open (3rd round): Tiger Woods-67, Phil Mickelson-65

2000 WGC-NEC Invitational (3rd round): Tiger Woods-67, Phil Mickelson-69

2000 Tour Championship (1st round): Tiger Woods-68, Phil Mickelson-67

2001 Players Championship (3rd round): Tiger Woods-66, Phil Mickelson-72

2001 Masters (4th round): Tiger Woods-68, Phil Mickelson-70

2002 Tour Championship (1st round): Tiger Woods-71, Phil Mickelson-70

2002 Tour Championship (4th round): Tiger Woods-70, Phil Mickelson-69

2003 Buick Invitational (4th round): Tiger Woods-68, Phil Mickelson-72

2005 Ford Championship (4th round): Tiger Woods-66, Phil Mickelson-69

2006 Ford Championship (3rd round): Tiger Woods-68, Phil Mickelson-72

2006 PGA Championship (1st round): Tiger Woods-69, Phil Mickelson-69

2006 PGA Championship (2nd round): Tiger Woods-68, Phil Mickelson-71

2007 Deutsche Bank (1st round): Tiger Woods-72, Phil Mickelson-70

2007 Deutsche Bank (2nd round): Tiger Woods-64, Phil Mickelson-64

2007 Deutsche Bank (4th round): Tiger Woods-67, Phil Mickelson-66

2008 U.S. Open (1st round): Tiger Woods-72, Phil Mickelson-71

2008 U.S. Open (2nd round): Tiger Woods-68, Phil Mickelson-75

2009 Masters (4th round): Tiger Woods-68, Phil Mickelson-67

2010 BMW Championship (4th round): Tiger Woods-70, Phil Mickelson-67

2011 WGC-Cadillac Championship (1st round): Tiger Woods-70, Phil Mickelson-73

2011 WGC-Cadillac Championship (2nd round): Tiger Woods-74, Phil Mickelson-71

2011 WGC-Cadillac Championship (3rd round): Tiger Woods-70, Phil Mickelson-72

2012 AT&T Pebble Beach (4th round): Tiger Woods-75, Phil Mickelson-64

2012 U.S. Open (1st round): Tiger Woods-69, Phil Mickelson-76

2012 U.S. Open (2nd round): Tiger Woods-70, Phil Mickelson-71

2013 Deutsche Bank (1st round): Tiger Woods-68, Phil Mickelson-63

2013 Deutsche Bank (2nd round): Tiger Woods-67, Phil Mickelson-71

2014 PGA Championship (1st round): Tiger Woods-74, Phil Mickelson-69

2014 PGA Championship (2nd round): Tiger Woods-74, Phil Mickelson-67

2018 Players Championship (1st round): Tiger Woods-72, Phil Mickelson-79

2018 Players Championship (2nd round): Tiger Woods-71, Phil Mickelson-73

Of course, I’m sure there are some out there saying that this isn’t stroke play and you would be correct. This is match play and anything can happen in match play. We might not even get 18 holes out of this match. But come on, wasn’t that history still fun to look at? But just to be thorough, here’s a look at Tiger and Phil’s records in match play events. And no, I’m not including the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup team matches because they didn’t have full control there. Unless, of course, you count the time they were paired together at the Ryder Cup in 2004 and went 0-2. But we won’t get into that today. We’ll stick to singles.

Ryder Cup record (singles)-Tiger Woods: 4-2-2, Phil Mickelson: 8-6-1

Presidents Cup record (singles)-Tiger Woods: 6-2-0, Phil Mickelson: 4-5-3

WGC-Match Play record-Tiger Woods: 33-10, Phil Mickelson: 24-14

Is this match between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson perfect? Of course not. There’s plenty wrong with it but in my eyes, there’s more good to it than bad. Is it a spectacle? Of course. Is it a money grab? Sure. Hey, at least some of the money is going to charity, right? Should it have been done 12 or 15 years ago? Probably.

But this really does have a chance to be a lot of fun. There’s going to be plenty of people out there that won’t spend the 20 bucks on it, including some guys like Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas that have already said as much, and that’s okay. Hey, I get it. There are family things happening, it’s Black Friday and I know Amazon needs that Jackson from you. But this is a chance to see Phil and Tiger in a way that we’ve never seen before.

My guess is that these two have placed plenty of bets with one another over the years. But not with cameras and microphones on. The golf world is changing, everyone. This won’t be the last we see matches like this, especially with the talent and personalities that are in the game right now. But this might just be the last time we see Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson play golf together, which is actually quite the sad thought. For true golf fans, maybe this is worth more than we realize.

Who’s your pick for The Match? Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson? Please feel free to join in the conversation in the comments section below.