PGA Championship 2013: Why Phil Mickelson Was Tiger Woods’ Top Rival All Along

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: August 6, 2013

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With his recent triumph in the 2013 Open Championship, near miss at the U.S. Open and subsequent rise to the second spot in the world rankings, there’s no doubt Phil Mickelson is Tiger Woods’ most significant rival as the PGA Championship prepares to tee off.

Thing is, Phil’s been exactly that for the majority of Tiger’s career; we just lost sight of it for some reason.

His struggles between 2009 and 2011 notwithstanding, Woods’ dominance of the sport has lasted more than a decade-and-a-half, and challengers to his lofty status as the world’s best player have come and gone.

Golfers such as David Duval, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and, most recently, Rory McIlroy have all been viewed as a chief adversary to Tiger at one time or another. A lasting battle with any of them has never really materialized.

Mickelson, however, is different.



He is arguably the most popular golfer in the world, and his talent has always been the closest to rivaling Tiger’s. He’s had his peaks and valleys, but no golfer this side of Woods has accomplished as much in the past 15 years as Mickelson has.

Lefty’s five major championships are second only to Tiger’s 14 among golfers of his era. He owns an impressive 42 PGA Tour victories (ninth on the PGA's all-time wins list) and has amassed more than $72 million in career earnings on tour.

Yes, all three of those accomplishments pale in comparison to Tiger’s career achievements, but they take a backseat to no other player currently teeing it up on the PGA or European tours.

It’s not just in performance that Tiger and Phil are such worthy adversaries. We like our rivals to be different, and the two couldn't be more dissimilar on and off the golf course.

We want them to respect each other but not necessarily like each other. It’s fair to say Phil an...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Golf

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