If Only It Were April, Hot Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson Could Meet at Masters

Let me paint a picture for you.

It’s Sunday at the Masters.

The temperature is cool, in that a sweater is needed, but not cold enough to warrant even a light coat.  

Augusta National’s familiar wind swirls are present, but they’ve yet to send Steve Williams into meteorologist mode, or force Tiger Woods to tear out a football field worth of grass. 

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, who are playing together in the day’s final pairing, are each at nine-under-par as they approach Amen Corner.

Each player is on top of his game, and you just have that gut feeling that you’re about to personally witness one of those battles that will be spoken, and written, about for many years to come.

Roars have been reverberating through the Georgia Pines all afternoon as Padraig Harrington went on a birdie barrage, and is now the clubhouse leader at 10-under-par.  

Steve Stricker and Tim Clark—each eight-under-par for the tournament—are in the group directly ahead of Woods and Mickelson. Both Stricker and Clark are following the Weir/Johnson/Immelman model, and attempting to pick apart this brutally long and difficult golf course with their wedges.

Sean O’Hair has just birdied the 15th and 16th holes to move to 10-under-par for the tournament. While the folks at home are stuffing their faces with Easter ham, they listen to Jim Nance and Nick Faldo debate over whether or not O’Hair can hold it together down the stretch.

There are a few stragglers such as Stewart Cink, Hunter Mahan, Jim Furyk, and Lee Westwood, hanging around at six-seven under par as they approach the short par-three 16th.

Angel Cabrera hasn’t been a factor all week, but he is now five-under-par for the day, and has moved to nine-under for the tournament, with three holes still left to play—could this guy possibly tack on a third major championship?

And finally, it’s looking as if Ryo Ishikawa and Rory McIlroy will both finish inside of the Top 25 for the first time at a major championship.  

It doesn’t get much better than that folks.   

But, now, on the count of three I’ll snap my fingers and we’ll all come back to reality.

One.

Two.

Three.

“SNAP”.

If the Masters were to take place this week, that fictional fantasy might be a reality. 

But, unfortunately, the best players in the world will not be gracing the pristine fairways of Augusta National for another six months. 

And if you happen to live anywhere north of the December golf line—South Carolina for the lay folks—you are just weeks away from sending your own clubs into hibernation for the next six months.

Over the past 13 years, there has never been a better time for a Woods/Michelson showdown than right now.

Woods is at, or near the top of his game, and Mickelson has been playing some of the best golf of his career over the past few weeks.

For the first time since Mickelson was 12 years old, and Tiger was five, Mickelson is hitting the ball significantly longer than Woods.

Mickelson averaged just over 300 yards off the tee in 2009, which ranked 12th on tour.

In comparison, Woods finished 20th on tour in driving distance.  In 2009, Woods' average driving distance was four yards shorter than in 2007, six yards shorter than in 2006, and an astounding 18 yards shorter than in 2005.

But, we all know that guys don’t win golf tournaments with their oversized titanium drivers; it’s the flat stick that wins major championships.

Since returning to the PGA Tour in August after taking two months away from the game to be with his wife and mother who were both suffering from breast cancer, Mickelson couldn’t roll a golf ball through a basketball hoop on the greens.

In the days leading up to the Tour Championship, Mickelson’s caddie, Jim "Bones" Mackay, suggested that he have two-Time PGA Tour winner, and renowned putting coach, Dave Stockton take a look at his putting stroke.

Stockton, who had seen video clips of Mickelson, took just a few seconds to identify and fix the problem.  

His tips were quite simple. He advised Mickelson to widen his stance, and go back to the forward press with his hands that Mickelson had been using up until just two years ago.

The result of Stockton’s little putting lesson could be seen less than a week later, when Mickelson was standing on the 18th green at East Lake, holding up the Tour Championship trophy; and rumor has it that a big fat check arrived in Stockton’s mailbox courtesy of Mickelson and his appreciation for Stockton’s help.

Last week at the Presidents Cup, which took place at Harding Park Golf Course in San Francisco, Mickelson showed the world that his putting performance at East Lake was not a one-time deal.

Mickelson drained putts from everywhere but Oakland, and could have probably defeated the entire European team in a best ball match.

Of course, Tiger and Phil are certainly golf’s two leading men at any major championship.

However, the supporting cast has never been better.

Stricker has had the best year of his career, and moreover, his playing 15 rounds with Woods during the FedEx Cup has actually allowed Stricker to become comfortable in Woods’ world.

Padraig Harrington finished inside of the Top 10 at has last six events, and take away two bad holes in August, and Harrington could have very well won the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, and his second consecutive PGA Championship.

Last week, Tim Clark showed everyone exactly what he’s capable of with a short iron in his hands, which is skill that bodes well for Augusta National.

Ryo Ishikawa’s solid performance at the Presidents Cup might just have been his big coming out party, and as we know, the sky is the limit for this ultra-talented 18-year-old.

And then we have Rory McIlroy, who is right on the verge of being a perennial contender at the majors.

That’s right, if the Masters were to take place this week, it could be a battle to end all other battles.

We could have had a legitimate Woods/Mickelson showdown with a high-profile supporting cast nipping at their heels, and just waiting to pounce on their first miss-step.

But, unfortunately it’s October, the days are getting shorter, the cold weather is ominously moving in, and our hopes of a historic showdown of the world’s top players are already becoming lost in the excitement of playoff baseball and NFL football.

Ahhh, if only it were April.