Tiger Woods vs Phil Mickelson match set for November, says report
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Get your popcorn ready: The Woods vs Mickelson winner-takes-all contest is set for November, according to a report from ESPN.
Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson played a practice round together on Wednesday at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational, and talk quickly circulated about whether they would be discussing their big-money winner-takes-all challenge.
And now, according to ESPN’s Mike Greenberg, sources have informed him that the much talked-about head-to-head is scheduled to take place either on Friday the 23rd or Saturday the 24th November (Thanksgiving weekend in the USA).
Although the venue is said to be Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas, the purse is still being determined, but initial reports estimated the winnings to be around $10 million.
“It’s a ridiculous amount of money,” Phil told Golf.com about the money they were discussing last month. “No matter how much money you have, this amount will take both of us out of our comfort zone.”
Tiger vs Phil: How did it come about?
It’s been well documented that these two icons of the game haven’t always had a good relationship, but both have conceded they became closer at Ryder Cups over the years as they both moved in to different stages of their careers.
There’s no doubt that both Woods and Mickelson still command a huge amount of attention from fans around the world… something that became even more apparent when they played together during a practice round at The Masters in April.
What followed was a much-hyped about pairing for the first two rounds at The Players in May, and it was there at TPC Sawgrass that Mickelson first floated the idea.
“The excitement that’s been going on around here, it gets me thinking: Why don’t we just bypass all the ancillary stuff of a tournament and just go head-to-head and just have kind of a high-stakes, winner-take-all match,” Mickelson said in May.
“Now, I don’t know if he wants a piece of me, but I just think it would be something that would be really fun for us to do, and I think there would be a lot of interest in it if we just went straight to the final round.”
Woods responded: “I’m definitely not against that. We’ll play for whatever makes him uncomfortable.”
Many thought Mickelson and Woods were just joking, until both players confirmed they were in talks with TV channels and sponsors – and the much talked about event almost happened last month.
“We’re working on a different date,” Mickelson told Alan Shipnuck. “I thought it was done for the 3rd but obviously it wasn’t.”
And while there aren’t a lot of details yet, it now looks like you can book it in your calendars for the 23rd or 24th of November.
