During a Tuesday morning press conference ahead of this week's The Players Championship, Phil Mickelson offered a very interesting challenge to Tiger Woods when asked about being paired with the 14-time major champion.
Q: I know we talked to you on Sunday about the pairing, the grouping with Tiger and Rickie (Fowler). How much different is it playing with Tiger when you know you're going to play with him, and by any chance did you prepare any differently to get ready for Thursday?
Mickelson: "So I love that we're paired together. I think it's really fun. We haven't been paired together in years, and as I look at the cover of the newspaper and the pairing is on there and the excitement that's been going on around here, it gets me thinking, why don't we just bypass all the ancillary stuff on a tournament and just go head-to-head and just have kind of a high-stake, winner-take-all match. Now, I don't know if he wants a piece of me (laughter), but I just think it would be something that would be really fun for us to do, and I think there would be a lot of interest in it if we just went straight to the final round."
Tiger, when asked about the prospect of a money match, had this to say in response:
Woods: "I'm definitely not against that. We'll play for whatever makes him uncomfortable."
The Westgate Las Vegas Superbook is currently offering Mickelson as a -120 tournament favorite over Woods in a head-to-head matchup for The Players Championship and, according to Westgate Las Vegas Superbook Manager Jeff Sherman, the line would fall between a pick'em to Mickelson -120 depending on the course selected for this winner-take-all match.
Top Photo: Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson walk down the 11th fairway during a practice round for the Masters golf tournament
