Tiger vs. Phil: Book takes us through 'fascinating rivalry' from early days to recent historic major wins
When mapping out the reasons he joined LIV Golf, Pat Perez said he's "been on the road longer than Matt Wolff has been alive."
Bob Harig has covered golf longer than 23-year-old Matt Wolff has been alive, and that knowledge has given us the most in-depth look at golf's most compelling, gripping and, yes, fascinating rivalry.
Harig's book, "Tiger & Phil: Golf’s Most Fascinating Rivalry," takes us on the journey of these two iconic athletes who, for the first time in 20 months, will play in the same event next week at The Open Championship.
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Harig, who now works for SI.com after lengthy career stops at the Tampa Bay Times and ESPN, has covered more than 100 majors, including all of those won by Tiger (15) and Mickelson (six). The longtime, respected golf writer has witnessed 45 of Tiger's 82 PGA Tour wins. He has known both for more than 25 years, his relationship with Mickelson going back more than 30 years.
And when they tee it up on the Old Course at St. Andrews on Thursday, Harig, of course, will be there, just as he was the last time Tiger and Phil played in the same event, the 2020 Masters held in November.
The idea for the book was conceived after Tiger's historic 2019 Masters win. But then Harig thought any book about Tiger would not be complete without the story of his career-long rival.
"I thought, why not incorporate them both?" he said. "They're both at the end. Nobody's really tackled the Tiger-Phil aspect."
It didn't hurt that Mickelson captured the 2021 PGA Championship while Harig was working on the book, a victory as stunning and historic as Tiger's 2019 Masters triumph. Mickelson's win at the Ocean Course on Kiawah Island in South Carolina brought the rivalry full circle and left us with the question: Which major — Tiger's 2019 Masters or Phil's 2021 PGA — was the greater feat?
Harig addressed this in the book and again in our recent conversation. And he still is not sure.
"As great as Tiger's win was, coming back from all he had come back from ... He did that two years almost to the day after his spinal fusion surgery that he wondered if he'd ever be able to play competitively again.
"Yes, that's incredible (but) Tiger won the Tour Championship the year before. He was in contention at two majors the year before. He was competitive (in 2019). You could argue you could maybe see that coming."
As for Mickelson, nobody saw that coming. Phil's last win before the 2021 PGA was at Pebble Beach in 2019. His best finish in 2021 before the PGA was a T21 at the Masters.
"He had just not been competitive and had long stretches of not being in contention," Harig said. "To get into contention at the PGA at a tough course ... and just doing it in a style that he had not been doing — hitting fairways. And 50 years old. The oldest major champion had been 48 and it was 53 years earlier. Guys just don't win in their 50s, let alone majors.
"I think it's a really good barroom argument as to which was better."
Feeding off each other's success
The book takes us from their early years. Tiger, the child prodigy who made his national television debut on "The Mike Douglas Show" at the age of 3, and by the time he was 13 appearing on all the major networks, and Mickelson, every bit the young phenom but without the notoriety and air time.
Then to their adolescence, as their competitive personalities emerged, Tiger, 5½ years younger, eyed Mickelson's early success from juniors through college, while also comparing himself with Jack Nicklaus.
Mary Mickelson, Phil's mother, told Harig the family knew of Tiger since before Tiger was 10.
"He always had a great admiration for Tiger and he told us that," she said. "Tiger pushed him. He was lucky to have Tiger come along at that time."
Tiger certainly was the more revered golfer, but Mickelson was immensely popular, too. Mickelson was more fan-friendly with a much bigger personality, one that matched his gambling style on the course. Tiger was more calculating.
And it did not take long to realize who dominated this rivalry.
Consider: Woods has been No. 1 in the World Golf Rankings for 683 weeks, Mickelson never has been No. 1. Mickelson was No. 2 for 270 weeks, all while Tiger sat at the top.
"I got pushback from people who question the rivalry," Harig said. "I address this in the book. You could make the argument that Tiger had no rival. It's certainly fair to say that when you look at his record — double the wins, almost three times the majors — Tiger's rival might have been history. His rival might have been Jack Nicklaus.
"But there's no question those are the two guys above everybody else. Tiger in time recognized Phil as a threat. Several stories highlight that. He saw Phil as a guy who was really good and he probably didn't want to admit it to the world and he didn't want to give Phil any credit."
Hank Haney, Tiger's coach from 2004 to 2010, told Harig in 2010, "The last guy Tiger wanted to be chasing on Sunday was Phil."
Dynamic 'never simple, often explosive'
Phil had a four-year head start turning pro, but Tiger caught him in tour wins four years into his professional career, and the gap kept getting wider. Soon the spotlight was on the majors, and it shined on both players for different reasons.
Tiger's first major win was in 1997 at the Masters, his second year as a pro. It took Mickelson 12 years and many heartbreaks before capturing his first major, the 2004 Masters. By then, Tiger had won eight, including the Tiger Slam — the 2000 U.S. Open, Open Championship, PGA Championship and 2001 Masters.
And not unlike any good rivalry, controversies began to surface.
In 2002, Tiger finished one shot behind Rich Beem at the PGA Championship but was caught celebrating Beem's win, saying: "That's Rich Beem one, Phil Mickelson zero."
In 2003, Mickelson said in an interview with Golf Magazine that Tiger was playing with inferior equipment. "He hates that I can fly it past him now," he said.
In 2004, they were paired in the Ryder Cup and the results were disastrous. In a tension-filled event, Tiger and Phil rarely acknowledged the other and the results showed. The European team won 18½-9½, and Tiger and Phil combined to win three of their nine matches.
It took Tiger 20 years to play another practice round with Mickelson after losing a wager during a practice round in 1998 and paying Mickelson with five $100 bills. Mickelson made copies of the bills and left a note in Tiger's locker that read the "Benjis" were very happy in their new home.
"It was never simple. It was often explosive. And it rarely disappointed," Harig wrote about the Tiger-Phil dynamic.
The relationship has mellowed over the years. Both have acknowledged each other's accomplishments and both have offered support during difficult times.
But to say they are friends, Harig is not so sure.
"I'm cautious to say that," Harig said. "They got friendlier at the end. They were collaborative on the Ryder Cup in '16 and '18. They had that match in 2018 in Vegas.
"I think their friendship was a little bit born out of commercial interests. There was a window where they saw an opportunity to monetize their relationship and it led to this collaboration which might have been friendly but I don't think meant they were close."
They have not talked since Mickelson's association with the LIV Golf Series became public. Harig believes this has hurt any friendship they may have had.
Still, he does not believe Mickelson joining LIV should taint his legacy, and compares it to Tiger's sex scandal in 2009-10.
"The way I look at it is he had a 30-year career of greatness and I'm not sure this should dent that," Harig said. "Six majors and you become the oldest major champion at age 50 and you did a lot of good for the game and were incredibly popular. I have a hard time myself letting that override it.
"Did Tiger's scandal override it? I don't think that's the case now. He's beloved."
Tom D'Angelo is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at tdangelo@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: 'Tiger vs. Phil' takes in-depth look at rivalry that will be renewed at Open Championship
