Doral Showdown: Woods v. Mickelson

Phil Mickelson managed “only” a 66, but Tiger charged to a tournament-low 63 to get within two and separate himself from the field. Welcome to a Sunday showdown at Doral!

Tiger Woods Phil Mickelson“Phil Mickelson vs. The Blue Monster” ended in a TKO, with Phil Mickelson firing 64, 66, 66. But Sunday’s matchup is even better.

Tiger Woods fired a blistering 63, with a back-nine 30, and put the pressure on Mickelson, who managed to retain a two-stroke advantage going into the final round at the Ford Championship at Doral. Mickelson is at -20, Tiger’s at -18, and nobody else is closer than -14.

Miami ain’t exactly the Ol’ West, but there’s a showdown scheduled for 1:45pm EST today, and it’s World #2 vs. World #4. Tiger is spotting Mickelson – who has lead or shared the lead in each of his last ten stroke-play rounds – one stroke a side. Who will win?

“We both know we’re going to have to make a bunch of birdies,” said Woods of Sunday’s showdown. “Whatever we do, we can’t let the guys behind us back in the tournament.” Woods’ 63 – the lowest of the tournament so far – included a 340-yard carry onto the 372-yard par-4 16th. He narrowly missed the 45-foot eagle putt and tapped in for birdie. Woods also reached the 603-yard par-5 12th in two and left his eagle putt in the jar but six inches short. He was the first to reach either green.

Mickelson’s round featured a little luck, as he repeatedly found the rough but came up with relatively good lies and open lines to the greens. Even on the last hole, a near duck-hook hit spectators and settled down onto flattened rough shy of the tree-line. Still, Mickelson missed some shorter putts and looked a bit off with his driver and irons today at times.

Others have a chance: Zach Johnson fired a 64 and is at -14, along with James Driscoll and Craig Parry, both of whom shot 67s. Parry, paired with Woods, looked to be shooting 80 by comparison, but made several long putts to continue his honorable defense of the title. World #1 (perhaps not for long) Vijay Singh fired a fairly pedestrian 68 and is at -13 along with José Maria Olazabal and Jim Furyk. A group of players lurk but are pretty much out of it at -12.

The last time Tiger and Phil played in the final group was the 2003 Buick Invitational. Some will remember that Mickelson made his “inferior equipment” comment at that tournament, while others will remember that Tiger went on to win and Lefty finished tied for fourth, six shots back. Tiger and Phil were paired together as teammates in last year’s Ryder Cup as well. We all know how that turned out.

Tiger Woods played the best golf yesterday, but Phil Mickelson is playing the best golf over the past month or two, winning his last two stroke-play events: the FBR Open and the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

The pairing came together when Woods separated himself from the pack on Saturday’s back nine. Woods came home in 30, and afterwards told NBC’s Jimmy Roberts “Happy birthday, dad. I told you I would shoot a low one for you, and I did.”

Phil doesn’t have the best record against Tiger, and it will be interesting to see how things shake out Sunday. If Phil can hold off Tiger, he’ll lock up “best player right now” honors. If Tiger wins, he regains his World #1 ranking. Tiger’s already got a victory this year, and neither of Phil’s victories came with Tiger in the field.

One final note for those looking to place their bets. In Tiger’s post-round interview, he talked primarily about making birdies, mentioning Phil’s name only once or twice. Phil Mickelson mostly talked about Tiger Woods.

Pos    Player               Tot     R1     R2     R3     Tot
1      Phil Mickelson       -20     64     66     66     196
2      Tiger Woods          -18     65     70     63     198
T3     Zach Johnson         -14     68     70     64     202
T3     James Driscoll       -14     67     68     67     202
T3     Craig Parry          -14     69     66     67     202
T6     Jim Furyk            -13     70     66     67     203
T6     Vijay Singh          -13     68     67     68     203
T6     Jose Maria Olazabal  -13     64     69     70     203
T9     Joe Ogilvie          -12     68     70     66     204
T9     Harrison Frazar      -12     65     71     68     204
T9     David Toms           -12     69     66     69     204
T9     Tim Clark            -12     68     67     69     204
T9     Billy Andrade        -12     66     66     72     204

You can catch final-round action of the Ford Championship at Doral on NBC Sunday from 3-6pm EST. And if you can’t catch it, make darn sure you TiVo it, eh?

Photo Credit: © ESPN.

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