Rare Vintage Tiger-Phil Pairing Nears, And The Talk Leading Up To It Is Just As Fun

Thanks to the PGA Tour making the rare move to pair Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, accompanied by the equally rare sight of Phil Mickelson making his way into an interview room, we have some fun stories and revelations to amp up excitement for Thursday's 1:52 pm ET grouping with Rickie Fowler. 

Tiger remains upbeat and seems even more unphased by any burden to win, which I noted in this Golfweek assessment that also includes a few other fun comments from Woods' press session.

Maybe most surprising of all was Tiger's revelation that Phil offered short game help in 2015 during the chip-yip phase.

Shoot, at this pace we'll soon find out Tiger spent days Googling holistic arthritis remedies for Mickelson and that Phil offered to visit Orlando to help find Tiger's Escalade the right auto repair shop. After that, it could be the ultimate sign of a bond: sharing jet rides to tournaments. Sky's the limit!

ESPN.com's Bob Harig focuses on Phil's assertion that Tiger's peak will never be repeated by any golfer ever, and reviews the head-to-head match up, which this time around lacks some of the creative tension of past pairings.

In all, they have played in the same group just 35 times, with Woods holding a slight edge in their round-by-round scores at 16-15-4. Woods' scoring average is also slightly better, 69.60 to 69.91.

Woods won five of the tournaments in which they were grouped at some point, including the 2006 PGA Championship and the 2008 U.S. Open. Mickelson won three.

Brian Wacker notes at Golf World that the harmony is all the more touching giving where these two have been at times, though this is also hardly Ali-Frazier kissing and making up, either.