TROON, Scotland – Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson at least gave each other a nod earlier this week when they were spotted practicing side by side at Royal Troon ahead of the Open Championship.
Mickelson confirmed that he and Woods said “hello” on the practice range on Saturday. The two hit balls in adjacent stalls, but were too busy with their own preparations to have a long conversation.
“We said goodbye,” Mickelson said after shooting a third-round 72 at The Open, where he made the cut at age 54. “Yeah, we said goodbye, but we were both getting ready. We weren’t going to just sit around and chat. But we said goodbye, right?”
Woods and Mickelson, who have been rivals for years, were never close, but their relationship has been nonexistent in recent years. Mickelson was one of the chief recruiters for the LIV Golf League, and Woods was an active member of the PGA Tour policy committee that worked to stop the Saudi threat and now potentially reunify the game.
Asked whether he and Woods, two of the biggest stars of the early 2000s, could work together to solve the tour’s problems, Mickelson said, “I don’t know. We’ll see. We’ll see.”
“I don’t know about that stuff,” Mickelson continued. “I don’t get involved. I don’t sit in that room. I enjoy where I am and what I do and what I play. I’ll let other people figure that stuff out.”
Woods’ exchange with Mickelson this week wasn’t the only time he seemed to want to make peace. On the practice putting green, he also took the time to congratulate Bryson DeChambeau on his recent U.S. Open win. It was the first time the two former friends had exchanged greetings in years, and DeChambeau was saddened by the remarks.
“It was a first contact,” DeChambeau said Thursday. “But he’s a competitor and I have a lot of respect for him. I’m sure having won the U.S. Open twice definitely helped him come out and congratulate me. I don’t know what his position was, but it was very thoughtful and I appreciated it.”
