“Phil was the gold standard”: When Tiger Woods got honest about rival Phil Mickelson, confessing his admiration

Tiger Woods showcased incredible dominance on the PGA Tour for over a decade in the early 2000s. He turned pro in 1996 and started competing regularly on the PGA Tour, spending 683 weeks as the world no. 1.

Woods’ rival Phil Mickelson was also one of the best golfers over the same period on the PGA Tour. However, in junior golf, the left-handed golfer is senior to Woods and was winning everything based in San Diego.

During an interview in 2018, Tiger revealed that Phil Mickelson was the gold standard in Southern California junior golf (0:24 -0:55).

“Phil was the gold standard in Southern California junior golf. He won everything based in San Diego. I was just a little north of him in Orange County and he did some amazing things that amateur golf. He won three of those. And I was five six six years behind him. So I always was trying to I had these records ahead of me. And I try to obviously take him down,” Tiger said.

In professional golf, Tiger Woods has the most PGA Tour wins (82), with 15 major championships. His rival, Phil Mickelson, has 45 PGA Tour and six major titles.

This rivalry has faded away in recent years as Tiger is recovering from various injuries while Mickelson has joined LIV Golf. The major championships are the only tournaments where these two golfers are in the field together, but are seldom in the same group.

When will Tiger Woods compete next?

Tiger Woods recently competed at The 2024 Open Championship at the Royal Troon Golf Club in Scotland. Over the last three years, Woods has mainly competed only in major championships. He faced a life-threatening car crash in 2021 and is still recovering from his injuries.

Woods started his 2024 season at the Genesis Invitational, but withdrew after round one due to flu-like symptoms. He then decided to compete only in major championships.

Sadly, his performance was below average at all four majors as he struggled with his game and fitness. Tiger finished T60 in the Masters, and missed the cut at the US Open, PGA Championship, and The Open Championship.

But after completing at The 2024 Open Championship, Woods said he has gotten better physically, and revealed that the next event he will compete in will be the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, followed by the father/son PNC Championship.