TROON, Scotland – Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson did at least acknowledge each other earlier this week when they were spotted practicing side by side at Royal Troon ahead of the Open Championship.
Mickelson confirmed Saturday that he and Woods said “hello” on the range, when they hit balls in neighboring stalls, but were too busy in their respective preparations for a lengthy chat.
“We said hi,” Mickelson said after a third-round 72 at The Open, where he made the cut at the age of 54. “Yeah, we said hi, but we were both preparing. It’s not like we’re going to sit there and chat. But we said hello, yeah.”
Archrivals for years, Woods and Mickelson have never been close but their relationship in recent years has been nonexistent. Mickelson was one of the chief recruiters for the LIV Golf League, while Woods has been an active part of the PGA Tour policy board that has worked to ward off the Saudi threat and, now, potentially, reunify the game.
When asked whether he and Woods – the two biggest stars of the early 2000s – could work out the tours’ problems together, Mickelson said, “I don’t know. We’ll see. We’ll see.”
“I don’t know about that stuff,” Mickelson continued. “I’m not involved. I’m not sitting in those rooms. I am enjoying where I’m at and what I’m doing and playing. I’ll let other people figure that stuff out.”
Woods’ interaction with Mickelson wasn’t the only time this week that he appeared to be in the mood for peacemaking. On the practice putting green he also took time to congratulate Bryson DeChambeau on his recent U.S. Open victory – the first time that the one-time friends had exchanged pleasantries in years, a strain that had saddened DeChambeau.
“It is the first communication,” DeChambeau said Thursday, “but I’ll say that he’s a competitor and I have a lot of respect for him. I’m sure that winning two U.S. Opens definitely helped, I guess, for him coming up and saying congrats. I don’t know what his position is, but it was very thoughtful and I was appreciative of it.”
