Tiger Woods has seen rivals come and go in his 16 years as a professional. Some have been legit, others just wishful thinking. One constant through Woods’ career has been Phil Mickelson. And now there is Rory McIlroy. So which is the better rivalry. Tiger vs. Phil or Tiger vs. Rory? Rex Hoggard and Jay Coffin weigh in.
By REX HOGGARD
We were there in 2005 when Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson turned Doral into an instant classic and we watched in slack-jawed wonder as the two set out last month in the final round at Pebble Beach, but with all due respect to a resurgent Lefty the game’s most intriguing top card has officially been passed to Woods and Rory McIlory.
The young Ulsterman has never seen Woods at his best and with a little luck, and a dollop of PGA Tour engineered contrived theater, that will change this week at the WGC-Cadillac Championship.
McIlroy, whose victory on Sunday at the Honda Classic completed his coronation and his ascent to the top of the Official World Golf Ranking, likely caught a glimpse of the impending Tiger-Rory rivalry at PGA National, with the former closing with a flawless 62 to tie for second place, his best PGA Tour finish since the 2009 Tour Championship.
Tiger vs. Phil still has the juicy subtext of history and a relationship that has always been on the icy side of cordial, but McIlroy’s climb and talent have set him apart from the pack and on a collision course with Woods.
Tiger vs. Phil will always move the needle, but Tiger vs. Rory has become the game’s best rivalry.
By JAY COFFIN
The best rivalry in golf is the same as it’s been the past 15 years: Tiger vs. Phil.
Congrats to Rory McIlroy, what he’s accomplished at 22-years-young is impressive. The Honda Classic finish was one of the best on the PGA Tour this year. It had drama, it had Tiger Woods finding “it” for the first time in 27 months and it had Rory, the young Irishman, scrambling all over PGA National to ultimately claim victory and the No. 1 spot in the world.
Yet, as great as that was, the final round at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am was better. Way better. Because Phil Mickelson was there. Phil was the one who stared down Tiger in the final group on Sunday, the one who found the extra gear and whipped his longtime rival by 11 shots.
This was three short weeks ago. Are our collective memories so poor that we forgot the hysteria that surrounded that day? Phil was left for dead a couple weeks earlier because he had played so poorly. Then, out of nowhere, he discovered his game at – of all places – Pebble Beach and took down Tiger.
This week, when pairings are announced for the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral, who would you most like to see play together? In a month from now, when we stroll down Magnolia Lane for the Masters, who would you like to see go head-to-head on Sunday?
I thought so.