Storyline Pairings, The Underlying Dynamics Of The Tiger-Phil Pairing And Thursday's Online Telecast Times

Jeff Rude raises the question that's on the mind of many at Olympic Club: just how good are these storyline-pairings-with-a-fun-twist good for the U.S. Open?

There’s the glamor trio of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson. World 1-2-3 Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood. The alphabet-soup gathering of K.J. (Choi), K.T. (Kim) and Y.E. (Yang). The sound-alikes of Charl (Schwartzel), Carl (Pettersson) and Charles (Howell III). Heart-warming qualifying protagonists Casey Martin and Dennis Miller. Bombers Alvaro Quiros and Gary Woodland. Flashy heartthrob youngsters Rickie Fowler and Ryo Ishikawa.

Whether Woods-Mickelson-Watson is a good idea apparently is up for debate. Both sides have been presented. On one sensible hand, it’s a great splash for golf, the marquee at its best. On the other, some somehow suggest it might be better to spread the wealth on the pairings sheet, not to mention the sound notion that it will be difficult to spectate unless you are, say, 8 feet tall.

Ron Sirak analyzes the history of Tiger and Phil pairings, along with the dynamics of their past pairings and how that might impact this week's U.S. Open and like many, still feels this will be better for Mickelson.

Earlier this year, at both the Humana Challenge and the Farmers Insurance Open, Mickelson seemed to have little passion for golf. After more than two decades on tour and with recent health challenges for his wife, his mother and himself, Lefty seemed to be at low energy.

Then, on the Sunday of the AT&T National Pro-Am at Pebble Beach, Mickelson was paired with Woods. The result was the best round Lefty had played in years a 64 that dusted Woods by 11 strokes and won the tournament. It seems that at this stage of his career, there are two things that motivate Mickelson -- winning majors and beating Woods, with beating Woods perhaps leading.

"The feeling and the excitement I got when I found out I was paired with Tiger the final round at Pebble got me excited and focused," Mickelson said. "And I felt a similar feeling when I found out we were paired together here. And I'm looking forward to the pairing."

Meanwhile the USGA is touting exclusive Thursday morning coverage of the Woods-Mickelson-Watson pairing on USOpen.com. Servers willing...

STAR-STUDDED U.S. OPEN GROUP OF WOODS, WATSON AND MICKELSON TO TEE OFF EXCLUSIVELY ON USOPEN.COM AND U.S. OPEN MOBILE APP

USGA to Deliver Virtual Front Row Seats to Live First-Round Marquee Coverage

San Francisco, Calif. (June 12, 2012) – When the marquee group of Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson and Tiger Woods tees off at 7:33 a.m. (PDT) for the first round of the 2012 U.S. Open Championship at The Olympic Club on Thursday, the USGA’s digital platforms will be the exclusive outlet for watching the start of all the action.

Visitors to usopen.com and users of the U.S. Open mobile application, “U.S. Open Golf Championship,” will have exclusive access to the first 90 minutes of continuous play on Thursday morning through live-streaming high-definition (HD) video, followed by ESPN’s live coverage at 9 a.m. (PDT).

A complete U.S. Open television schedule for ESPN and NBC is available at http://www.usopen.com/en_US/champ_experience/viewing_schedule.html

Coverage of the marquee group will continue throughout the morning, and the afternoon group will feature Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood. Exclusive coverage will also be available on Friday, with select holes featured on Saturday and Sunday.

“This is the one of most exciting times of the year for golf fans and we’ve created a marquee destination for them to follow a marquee pairing at the U.S. Open,” said USGA Executive Director Mike Davis. “We’re thrilled to be using our digital platforms in this way so fans have a virtual front row seat to watch three of the world’s most accomplished players compete in our national championship.”