Phil Mickelson isn’t just in a slump, but fading from golf’s competitive radar altogether. The six-time major champion, now 55, has not won a PGA Tour event since the 2021 PGA Championship, where he became the oldest major winner in history. Since then, his performances have been erratic. He’s missed more cuts than he’s made, fallen outside the top 250 in the Official World Golf Ranking, and his appearances on the LIV Golf circuit haven’t delivered the spark fans expected. Despite flashes of brilliance, Mickelson seems detached from the fire that once made him Tiger Woods’s fiercest rival.
Could the missing ingredient be Woods himself? For nearly two decades, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson were two forces to be reckoned with. While Woods dominated golf with surgical precision and relentless focus, Mickelson was the crowd-favorite risk-taker. Their dynamic was less friendship, more competitive combustion. Both men brought out something deeper in the other. Mickelson played his best golf not when he was winning—rather, but when he was chasing Woods.
In a 2018 CNN interview ahead of The Match—a $9 million one-on-one showdown in Las Vegas—Mickelson gave rare insight into this psychological dynamic. “And I feel like Tiger coming along during my career and playing as well as he did got the best out of me because I saw a level of play that I had never seen before. And I knew for me to be able to compete with that, I had to play my best.” Mickelson added, “It took a 100% dedication, and I feel like the wins and the success that I’ve had might not have been, very possibly would not be to that degree had he not come along.”
Their 2018 showdown in Las Vegas was not just a spectacle—it was a culmination of decades of rivalry. Held at Shadow Creek Golf Course, The Match ended with Mickelson winning on the 22nd hole under the lights, cashing in the winner-takes-all pot. Though the golf was uneven at times, the event symbolized mutual respect and the longevity of their rivalry, even in their 40s.
Just captivating conversation at #TheMatch
PHIL MICKELSON (through labored breathing): You like golf?
TIGER WOODS (also through labored breathing): Yeah. pic.twitter.com/O1XUVURlpL
— Mike Beauvais (@MikeBeauvais) November 23, 2018
Woods himself acknowledged the challenge of sustaining excellence at the CNN interview. “I knew that early on my game was good enough to put myself there. Now, was it good enough to be consistent? That’s a different story.” Mickelson replied, with optimism: “Our level of consistency isn’t quite what it has been, but I actually have a feeling and belief that as we’ve had success this year, we’ve had a bit of a taste of it, I think that it’s going to propel us into a phenomenal year in 19.”
But 2025 looks nothing like that hopeful vision. While Woods has been sidelined by injuries and surgeries, and has played only sparingly since his 2022 car accident, Mickelson has lost the spark that Tiger’s presence ignited. Without the measuring stick of Woods beside him, Mickelson seems adrift—like a competitor without a worthy rival. Their rivalry might have mellowed with age, but it once served as the fuel for Mickelson’s greatness. And in Woods’s absence, the fire appears to have dimmed. To understand just how much their dynamic shaped Mickelson’s career, it’s worth revisiting the early days of their rivalry, an era defined as much by tension as by talent.
Woods and Mickelson’s rivalry is full of jabs
While Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have matured into mutual admiration, their history includes moments of real tension and the occasional war of words. In the early 2000s, their relationship was icy. Woods was the undisputed king, while Mickelson, despite major success, often came off second-best. Mickelson subtly jabbed Tiger’s equipment in 2003, saying Woods was “playing inferior equipment.” The comments made headlines and reportedly infuriated Woods and his camp at Nike.
At the 2004 Ryder Cup, their strained dynamic was on full display. Captain Hal Sutton controversially paired them together, and the duo lost both matches they played. It was widely interpreted as a chemistry failure. For years, Mickelson and Woods would take passive-aggressive shots in interviews, often denying friction while clearly competing on every level. Woods’s famous cool demeanor was often met with Mickelson’s smirking confidence, one offering icy dominance, the other audacious flair.
But the relationship thawed in the 2010s. By the time The Match came around in 2018, both men had endured personal and professional storms. They began showing mutual respect. Woods praised Mickelson’s short game; Mickelson applauded Woods’s comeback wins. Still, Mickelson’s move to LIV Golf in 2022 and the controversy surrounding it drew a line in the sand. Woods, still loyal to the PGA Tour, voiced sharp disapproval of the breakaway league. Though they’ve avoided open conflict over it, the ideological split underscores the philosophical differences between them even now.
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