Some golf pundits feel a Woods-Mickelson match could generate similar interest to that of a major or Ryder CupGETTY IMAGES
Phil Mickelson called the report that he and Tiger Woods are in negotiations to play a $10M winner-take-all match "accurate, but I don’t know what else to say," according to Ryan Lavner of GOLFCHANNEL.com. Asked about the report on Saturday, Mickelson said, “I don’t know what else to add to that.” Asked when the event might be scheduled, Mickelson said, “I’m sure as soon as we know more, we’ll fill you in. But right now, I don’t have much more to add to it” (GOLFCHANNEL.com, 7/7). Golf.com's Alan Shipnuck as part of a roundtable wrote the "intensity of the news coverage and on social media" that followed his initial report shows "how much interest there is" for the potential match. Golf.com's Dylan Dethier: "It's such a simple, digestible concept with exciting characters that I think it would grab the attention of plenty of casual golf fans in a way that only the majors and Ryder Cup currently do." Golf.com's Josh Sens: "There's a big potential audience for this, and it could be a lot of fun, so long as it gives viewers what feels like an authentic glimpse behind the curtain -- a look at Phil and Tiger and their interactions in a fresh light" (GOLF.com, 7/8).
TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE? GOLFCHANNEL.com's Rex Hoggard wrote the match "might be a decade or so too late," but is "still a novel idea." GOLFCHANNEL.com's Lavner wrote it is a "decade too late, but it also never would have happened a decade ago." It is a "concession that we'll never get the showdown that we REALLY want: Tiger vs. Phil, Sunday afternoon at a major." The potential match "adds a little context" to Mickelson and Woods' practice round at The Masters and their "friendly banter" at The Players. Lavner: "By that point they were already deep into negotiations. Does it now seem a little sleazy that they were playing us all along?" Hoggard: "Sleazy? No. Premeditated, absolutely." Lavner added it is "hard to imagine that they're actually really good friends who want to travel the world playing exhibitions together, so to me it's just another opportunity for Tiger to rehab his image as he transitions into the next chapter of his life" (GOLFCHANNEL.com, 7/6). Golf Channel's Brandel Chamblee tweeted, "Phil has finished 2nd to Tiger once in a major, Tiger has never finished 2nd to Phil in a major. As rivalries go, it wasn’t one" (TWITTER.com, 7/7).
MUST-SEE TV: In California, Larry Bohannan wrote Woods-Mickelson in '05 "could have been a pay-per-view event." Now, hopefully it will be a "good, competitive match that might start a new run of great matches" like the former Shell's Wonderful World of Golf series that ended in the early '00s (Palm Springs DESERT SUN, 7/7). In Tampa, Martin Fennelly writes, "Yes, it's fake sports. Yes, it's contrived. ... I'll watch" (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 7/9). In Pittsburgh, Mark Madden wrote networks and advertisers "will fall all over each other to get a piece" of the match. It will be "golf's front-page story and generate monster ratings." It is also "contrived, smarmy, reminiscent of country-club hustling and damaging to golf." But it "puts Woods front and center" and "that's what matters" (TRIBLIVE.com, 7/7). In N.Y., Mike Lupica wrote he keeps "wondering about how the people in charge of the PGA Tour like the idea" of the Woods-Mickelson match (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 7/8). MORNINGREAD.com's John Hawkins writes Mickelson and Woods "must play for their own cash" and "not for a $10 million chunk of some marketing budget or in a three-hour commercial for Charles Schwab." There are "enough game shows on TV already." If it "turns out to be another corporate cash-grab, it’s a tired old idea" (MORNINGREAD.com, 7/9). FS1's Jason Whitlock said, "In their prime I would have wanted to see this. They're not in their primes" (Speak For Yourself," FS1. 7/6). CBSSN's Adam Schein: "The buzz, the ratings ... the esteem. Tiger versus Phil -- I don't care that Tiger's no longer Tiger as a golfer. I don't care that Phil's no longer Phil." The match "would be, for golf and for sports, absolutely, positively incredible" ("Time To Schein," CBSSN, 7/6).
