Tiger & Phil: Important Lessons from the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am

The television ratings have confirmed what most golf fans knew the day before when it was clear that Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson would play in the second to final group on Sunday.  Fans do not need numbers or ratings afterward. Fans know ahead of time when something is going to be big.  Big theater, big drama, big excitement.  

While it was thrilling, it wasn’t exactly golf at its best because, if it had been, it would have come down to a final putt on the 18^th hole, with either Woods or Mickelson needing to make it to win the tournament.  If that had happened, even the sea lions may have given up eating fish to watch.  

It was Phil Mickelson playing inspired golf, the kind everyone knows he can play.  Amazingly, it was the kind of golf we have come to expect from Tiger Woods.  It was the kind of golf that Woods displayed on the final two holes at Sherwood Country Club last winter. The kind Woods will no doubt play again in the future.

It was two of the biggest stars in the sport in the same grouping, both with a chance to win until Woods shot himself out of it.  It was at one of the most photogenic golf courses on the planet.  It was what we hope for in golf a few times a year, and at Pebble Beach, we got it.

Barring catastrophe, and with the way their separate lives have gone the last two years with different personal issues to battle, we may get another chance to see them in close contention, if not in the same pairing.  While a lot is made of Woods’ comeback, Mickelson has had a comeback of his own.  The revival of both of their games made last Sunday a must-watch occasion.   

What we are left with is hope for a great season going forward.  Mickelson and Woods will both be in the field at the WGC-Cadillac.  They may be in the field at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill.  Then they will meet at The Masters, the season’s first major. 

Both have won at Bay Hill and Augusta National. Woods has practically owned Arnold Palmer’s course while Mickelson has yet to score at Doral.  Anything can happen between now and then, and when they tee it up at the same course in March, anything might. 

It’s almost like Jack and Arnold have come back to battle out a hard-fought victory on an historic stage.  Whether golf is your business or just a sport you love to watch, what could be more exciting?