Tiger vs. Phil in the same pairing on a Sunday vying for a big time tournament. The two old foes do it again today, but have two golfers ahead of them on the leaderboard at Pebble Beach
Tiger Woods has chosen this spot, at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am as his first PGA tournament of the 2012 golf year. He sat four shots back of the leader on as the third round ended on Saturday.
Phil Mickelson is playing his second tour event and begins Sunday five strokes behind Chalie Wi, a 40 year old Korean golfer who has yet to win on the PGA Tour.
Woods played a tournament this year in Abu Dhabi and after leading the tournament going into Sunday's round, he did something that used to be unthinkable. He lost the lead and finished in a tie for third place.after shooting par.
Perhaps starting in third place will be an easier perch for him, but nothing about Wood's golf game can be taken for granted or even guessed about after his two year horror show of golf.
Mickelson, now 40, five years Woods' senior has had an inauspicious beginning to the new year. At the Farmer's Open in January he failed to make the cut. One week later at the Phoenix open he tied for 26th place shooting a total of six strokes under par.
The two former titans of the game are showing their age and mental stamina as each fights off different demons and golf idiosyncrasies. They are surrounded on the Pebble Beach leader board by men who feel no true fear of playing Woods and Mickelson because they not only appear mortal, they are.
CBS is counting on interest of the general public who remembers what it's like to tune in and find Tiger in red and in contention. With the NFL season behind us, Tiger vs. Phil might just win the day over the NBA and college hoops.
Tiger won Pebble Beach in his golden year of 2000 during the U.S. Open that occupied the course that season. He ran away with the tournament shooting -12 with the closest competitor, Ernie Els shooting +4. Later that year in Scotland at St. Andrews he'd win his first British Open and then complete the Grand Slams with another victory at the PGA.
It's the first time Woods has played at the AT&T, usually saving his Tour debut for playing at one of his favorite courses, Torrey Pines. He skipped that this season and returned to Pebble.
Phil Mickelson has had a bit of a tough time during Woods' absence from the Tour and his year of struggles to regain his form. Phil has been inconsistent but unlike in previous years, the good has not outweighed the bad.
There is never a deterioration in his fan interaction however, as Lefty takes whatever time it takes to sign autographs, wave and smile at crowds and tip his visor. That seems to never change.
CBS national coverage of the 2012 AT&T National Pro-Am begins at 3:30 p.m. ET. Leader board, here.
Image: Wikimedia Commons/Minds-Eye
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