Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson tee off for huge payday
November 23, 2018
Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are set to tee off in a made-for-TV, pay-per-view event in which the winner stands to earn millions of dollars. The duel comes with both golfers nowhere near the prime of their careers.
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This Friday's television event, which has been dubbed "The Match," is a one-on-one duel at the Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas that many fans of golf may well have craved when longtime rivals Tiger Woods, 42, and Phil Mickelson, 48, were at the top of their games, but that was some time ago.
15 years too late
"Look, if they had done it 15 years ago it would have been great," said four-time major champion Rory McIlroy. "But nowadays, it has missed the mark a little bit."
The current world No. 4, Justin Thomas, said he couldn't see himself paying the $19.99 (€17.57) that American golf fans are being asked to shell out to watch this purely pay-per-view event.
"Love TW and Phil to death, but there's a 0% chance I order that," Thomas wrote on Twitter last month. "I'll be watching football!"
'Ridiculous sum'
Still, it seems there is no shortage of golf fans who are more than willing to part with their hard-earned cash to watch The Match, so much so that the sponsors have put up $9 million for the winner of the round of 18, which Mickelson has admitted is a "ridiculous" sum.
As if to emphasize how much money they already have, the two golfers are expected to make numerous wagers during the round, in which both they and their caddies will be mic'd up. Mickelson (pictured above, left) has already bet $100,000 that he would birdie the first hole. Woods (above, right) not only took him up on it, but doubled the wager. The good news, though, is that both men have said that they would donate some of their proceeds to charity.
A frosty rivalry thawed
The two men are known to have had a frosty rivalry in their prime, but they have become friendlier in recent years, a fact that doesn't necessarily to work to the promoters' advantage. An attempt to line them up in a boxing-style stare-down at a pre-event press conference this week lasted only a few seconds before the two burst into laughter
Still, Mickelson insisted that it wasn't just about the money.
"I just don't want to lose to him and give him the satisfaction because the bragging rights are going to be even worse than the money," Mickelson said.
"We've gone at it for over two decades," Woods said. "I missed competing and being able to go against Phil like this. It gets my juices flowing, for sure."
While both men are very much past their prime, both did record victories on the PGA in 2018. However it's been five years since Mickelson won his last major.
pfd/mp (AFP, AP)
Tiger Woods: Heaven, hell and back
He was a child prodigy who has since enjoyed enormous sporting success, but it's not all been plain sailing for Tiger Woods. After winning his first major title in 11 years, DW takes a look at Woods' eventful career.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R. Sullivan
Child prodigy
At just six months old, the young Tiger Woods was reportedly able to copy his dad's golf swings. Eighteen months later, he'd made his first appearance on TV. By the age of 13, he'd become close to a household name, featuring on all the major networks in the US. He was also picking up just about every trophy in the junior ranks.
Image: picture alliance/AP/B. Galbraith
Turning pro
The American turned pro at 20 after picking up a trio US Amatuer titles and, true to form, wasted no time making his mark. Just two months after becoming a professional in 1996, he was picking up his first PGA Tour win at the Las Vegas Invitational.
Image: picture alliance/AP/L. McLendon
Master of the Majors
If the win in Vegas was a milestone, this was the moment Woods really arrived on the global stage. At 21, he became the youngest man ever to win at Augusta and picked up the famous green jacket. He'd go on to win the Masters three more times, with his current major championship tally standing at 14.
Image: Imago/UPI Photo
The Grand Slam
April 8, 2001 was arguably the most remarkable day of an astounding career. Again it came at Augusta as Woods picked up a second Masters win. Impressive as that is, that win also mean he held all four major titles at once, something no other golfer has managed.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R. Sullivan
Pairing up
In October 2004, Woods married Swedish model Elin Nordegren after he met her through fellow golfer Jesper Parnevik, for whom Nordegren worked as a nanny. The pair tied the knot in Barbados and had a son named Charlie Axel and a daugher named Sam together.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/K. Ludbrook
Accident causes all sorts of damage
Throughout his career up to this point in 2009, Woods had always maintained a squeaky clean image. But in the wake of allegations of multiple affairs, he crashed his car in to a fire hydrant, a tree and some hedges outside his Florida mansion. The subsequent days, weeks and months saw him pull out of tournaments, lose several lucrative sponsorship deals and his marriage ended in 2010.
The Bridgestone Invitational at the Firestone Country Clum in Akron, Ohio is far from the most prestigious of tournaments. But, until this week, it looked like it would have a certain sort of significance. This 2013 win was Woods' 79th PGA Tour win and, for a long time, looked like being his last.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/P. Long
Not ready for the comeback
After missing the Masters for the first time in his career in 2014, Woods returned to Augusta a year later. But it wasn't the comeback he'd hoped for. Woods looked out of sorts and was clearly struggling with the back injuries that would eventually require several operations and a lot of recovery time.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Andrew Gombert
The low point
In the early hours of the morning, again not far from his Florida home, Woods was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs after falling asleep at the wheel in a traffic lance with the engine running. Woods initially blamed it on prescription drugs and later pleaded guilty to reckless driving, was fined and banned from drinking alcohol for the year that he's under probation.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/AP/Palm Beach County Sheriff's office
First win for five years
After making his way back from nearly two years out injured and position 1199 on the world ranking list, Woods finally got his hands on some silverware again after five long years at the weekend. "I just can't believe I pulled this off," the 42-year-old said. "I was having a hard time not crying coming up to the last hole." He'll now play for the USA in the Ryder Cup.
Image: Reuters/J. D. Mercer
Back at the top
Woods' remarkable comeback was complete when he sealed an unexpected win at the 2019 Masters. Having kept himself in contention, Woods stayed calmed on the final day when others didn't and sealed his first major in 11 years, and his first Masters in 14 years. He finished 13-under par, winning by one shot over a trio of chasers. It was Woods' 15th major title and perhaps the greatest of them all.