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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla.—Phil Mickelson is a licensed pilot, a man who can talk quantum physics with a former NASA scientist named Dave Pelz who also happens to help the lefthander with his short game.
Like many of us, though, Mickelson doesn’t understand the formula that determines who moves up or down in the Official World Golf Ranking. He only knows one thing: winning is the key. And if Mickelson wins THE PLAYERS Championship this week—and Tiger Woods finishes outside the top five—Lefty will become the No. 1 player in the world for the first time in his career.
Mickelson comes to TPC Sawgrass on a hot streak, too, after winning the Masters and finishing second to Rory McIlroy Sunday at the Quail Hollow Championship in his next start. He closed with a 68 in Charlotte but got dusted by the young Northern Irishman’s brilliant 62.
“It’s every player’s goal and intent to strive to be recognized as the No. 1 player in the world relative to the rankings,” Mickelson said. “It’s certainly something that I have been striving for but have not achieved yet. And so it would mean a lot to me.
“But for me to accomplish that, I can’t focus on that. I’ve got to go out and get ready to play this golf course because it’s not an easy challenge, and for me to have a chance to achieve No. 1, I’ve got to win. So I’ve got a lot of work ahead.”
If he’s successful, Mickelson would become the 13th player to ascend to No. 1 in the world—joining Bernhard Langer, Seve Ballesteros, Greg Norman, Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnam, Fred Couples, Nick Price, Tom Lehman, Ernie Els and Woods.
Woods, for his part, didn’t sound too concerned about the prospect of falling to No. 2. He’s been atop the world rankings for a total of 598 weeks during his career—longer than anyone in history—but he’s also been passed by David Duval (for 15 weeks) and Vijay Singh (for 32) at various points during his career.
“I’ve had it happen before, Double D and Vijay,” Woods said. “I’ve had it happen before, and the whole idea to be No. 1 and to continue being No. 1, you have to win golf tournaments. And I haven’t done that in a while. I haven’t played in a while.”
The two have been rivals for 13 years now. Among current players, only Woods at 71 has won more times than Mickelson’s 38. He’s got 14 majors to Mickelson’s four, and both are former PLAYERS champions in 2001 and ’07, respectively.
Mickelson has won three of the last four times the two have competed in the same tournament, though. He finished second in the fourth last week as Woods, still getting back into the groove after his five-month layoff, missed the cut.
“I think if you look at our careers, it’s gone in streaks like that where I’ll get him, he’ll get me, and it kind of goes in like little spurts,” Woods said. “And granted, we’ve been going at it for, what, 13 years. So, yeah, right now he’s won a few, and hopefully I can win a few myself.”
Mickelson, who turns 40 next month, admitted that he didn’t play his best against Tiger until about three years ago. He didn’t go into the reasons for the dichotomy, but acknowledged Woods spurred him to improve.
“I think that as I’ve gotten older I’ve come to appreciate all that he has done for the game of golf and me in particular,” Mickelson said. “I’ve also found that I’ve needed him to help me get my best golf out, and he has pushed me to work harder and he has pushed me to become a better player.
“And I get motivated when he’s back in the field.”
Mickelson doesn’t expect too many more 79s like the one Woods shot last Friday to miss the cut at Quail Hollow, either. So for Lefty to become the No. 1 player in the world on Sunday, he’ll need to beat the best.
“I have seen him hit shots that I don’t know if anybody else in the world could ever possibly hit,” Mickelson said. “He is an incredible player and talent, and he has one of the most impressive records, if not the most impressive record, in the history of the game. I won’t ever underestimate him.
“Regardless of what he did last week, knowing the type of competitor he is, I expect him to come back and be the Tiger that we are used to seeing on the golf course.”
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents
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