Phil Mickelson considers Tiger Woods one of the major contributor to his stellar career
Leading American golfer, Phil Mickelson came out openly admitting Tiger Woods contribution to the sport and of how much he actually has benefitted from the 14-major-winner’s mind blowing success in the last decade or so.
Mickelson’s remarks about Woods are nothing new and has expressed his gratitude to the golfer on past several occasions but his recent remarks are one of the rarities when everyone makes his business to lash out at the former number one.
Mickelson was talking on Charlie Rose programme on Monday, July 25 where he showered praise in his countryman’s honour.
“There’s nobody in the game who has benefited more from Tiger than myself,” said Phil when asked what his expectations were for Tiger. “He drove the purses up. He drove up the TV ratings. He increased the marketing expectations. He raised endorsement values.”
Mickelson better known as “Lefty” for his left-handed swings, played most his era over-shadowed by Woods and though surging to number two on Official World Golf Rankings several times, he was never able to summit the rankings in his stellar career.
Most of the Americans as well as the golf critics have opined in the past that Mickelson suffered the most because Woods legendary performances in the last almost 15 staggering years, but Mickelson’s remarks speaks volumes of his good-natured sportsman spirit
and his well wishing for Woods.
Mickelson posted his strongest finish on the Open Championship a few weeks back where he pulled in tons of his experience to settle for a joint second, trailing the champion Darren Clarke by three shots. The 41-year-old Californian has won 47 professional
events in his career which spans more than 20 years. He has won the coveted masters title for three times and has also won the PGA Championship in 2005.
On a question about his on-course battles with Woods, Mickelson admitted that it was Woods’ exceptional capabilities on the turf that pushed him to perform better over the years.
“Tiger brought out my best game. He drove me to practice harder and work harder…Having that opponent driving and pushing you to get better is what helps people achieve higher levels of performance,” said Mickelson.
Woods, who is currently on a rehab for his left knee injury and an aggravated Achilles strain, is likely to stay put for the rest of the season and his chances of coming back for the last major of the season, the PGA Championship in Atlanta, is still shrouded
in mystery. Woods has now dropped to number 21 and there is a strong chance that he might fall out of the top-50 if he decides to sit out the rest of the season.
Fred Couples, who will be leading the team at this year’s President Cup, is also perplexed of Woods current form and will be deciding the fate of the player in a short while. Couples have to pick two players for the remaining slots on his personal recommendation
and will probably be switching to better performers on the tour this year.
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