He may have said it to psyche Tiger out before their big match, or he may have said it because he honestly believes it. But regardless of his motivation for saying it, Phil Mickelson made it clear that he believes Tiger Woods is the greatest golfer of all time.
And regardless of his motivation for saying it, he’s right.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday during a pre-tournament press conference, Mickelson took a break from the good-natured taunts and pre-match hype, to pay his opponent the highest of compliments.
“[Tiger is the] greatest of all time. That’s an easy one for me. I’ve seen him do things with a golf ball that’s never been done; the performance at the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach is the single-greatest performance in the history of the game of golf, and possibly all of sports, and he continued to play that way for a number of years.”
Prior to Mickelson’s kind words about Tiger, “Lefty” made it known that he’s no doubter of his own talents either. Mickelson let the assembled press know that he is so confident about his chances of a birdie on the opening hole, that he bet $100,000 of his own money. Woods, of course, promptly responded by doubling down on his opponent’s wager.
Phil and Tiger will face each other Friday, November 23rd at 3 p.m. Eastern. “The Match” can be viewed on PPV through Turner’s B/R Live, AT&T’s DIRECTV and AT&T U-verse.
Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter @themightygwinn
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