Golf Town is proud to host a viewing party for Capital One’s The Match at all of our 47 locations! RSVP today!
Head-to-Head: Tiger Woods versus Phil Mickelson in a pay-per-view match on Nov. 23.
What: A resurgent Woods will battle Phil Mickelson in a winner-takes-all US$9-million match at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas on November 23.
The Back Story
Phil the Thrill has a long and unusual relationship with Woods. The pair have played together (unsuccessfully) at the Ryder Cup, and Mickelson has taken his shots over the years at Tiger, most famously in 2003 when he said Woods was successful despite using inferior gear. Woods used Nike golf gear at the time; since then the swoosh company has exited the golf equipment business.
“He hates that I can fly it past him now,” Mickelson told a golf magazine at the time. “He has a faster swing speed than I do, but he has inferior equipment. Tiger is the only player who is good enough to overcome the equipment he’s stuck with.”
At the time Mickelson was using Titleist equipment; in recent years he’s used Callaway gear, including a Callaway ball.
Tale of the Tape
In many ways, it isn’t just a battle of golfers, but a contest of equipment as well. Woods famously signed a deal with TaylorMade in 2017 before getting reinjured, leaving it unclear as to whether he’d return to the sport. When he came back this year, he was using a TaylorMade M2 driver, before making the move to a 460 cc M3 driver.
It seemed to work, with Woods once again becoming one of the longest on tour, averaging 303-yards off the tee this past season.
Mickelson, who is notorious for tinkering with his equipment (remember the two drivers at Augusta or no driver at a British Open), uses a Callaway Rogue Sub Zero driver with a HZRDUS shaft, and came in just behind Woods, at 54th in driving distance at a touch over 300 yards on average. Phil, who plays a combination of Epic Pro irons, X Forged Utility irons and Apex MB irons, struggled a bit with finding greens in regulation (it helps when you’re a short game wizard), and finished the year at 136th in green in regulation, well behind Woods, who was 67th.
All down to the short game?
With that in mind, might the Woods against Mickelson match come down to who putts best? If that’s the case, Mickelson has the edge, finishing 2018 in 10th in strokes gained putting, using an Odyssey Versa #9 White putter. Woods was 39th—not far behind—but struggled to find a putter he loved in 2018. After experimenting with some TaylorMade models, he eventually went back to his trusty Scotty Cameron Newport 2, which fueled 13 of his 14 major championship victories and was in his bag for his TOUR Championship win.
Tiger Woods What’s in the Bag
Phil Mickelson What’s in the Bag
Golf Town is proud to present a viewing party for Capital One’s The Match at all of our 47 locations! RSVP today!
tiger is also every time tiger.