General / Ralph Ellis / 20 February 2009 / 1

Phil Mickelson has failed to take advantage of Tiger Woods' absence. However, some players thrive on rivalry and the return of the world number one could bring out the best in Lefty, says Ralph Ellis.

The phrase 'missed the boat' seems to have been invented for Phil Mickelson. With Tiger Woods out the way for nine months he should have cleaned up all golf's major tournaments. Instead it took until yesterday for him to find his top form with a sensational round of 63 in the Los Angeles Open.

And what happened an hour after Mickelson got back to the clubhouse to reflect on rediscovering his touch? The news wires sizzled into life with the announcement that Tiger Woods has confirmed that next week's Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona will be the venue for his comeback.

Mickelson should be used to having the limelight snatched from him by Tiger. It's happened all through his career. In any other era the left hander with the feather like touch on the putting greens would have been world number one by a distance. Instead he's finished seven of the last nine seasons at either two or three while Woods has always been that bit ahead of him. You think back to tournament after tournament when he's produced brilliant pieces of golf and has been in contention. Then you look up the record books and find he's only actually won three Majors in a career that's brought more than 50 million dollars in prize money.

Last year, after Woods stepped away from the game after his heroics at the US Open, Mickelson should really have blossomed. Instead he faded away and won only two Tour events, the Northern Trust Open and the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. At The Open he was a miserable joint 19th and was only marginally better at the USPGA, tied in seventh place.

There have always been players who thrived on rivalry. In tennis you can think of John McEnroe fading away when he didn't have Bjorn Borg to contend with, or Andre Agassi losing his way for several seasons after Jim Courier got bored with his drive to be the best. And it's no secret that Mickelson and Woods are not exactly best buddies as the disastrous efforts to pair them in the Ryder Cup have proved.

Woods, of course, has immediately been installed as [3.6] favourite and his choice of comeback event suggests the medical team are full of positives. Of course the Accenture was a logical place to return because he is defending champion and the tournament is backed by one of his own main sponsors. But it will also require him to play 36 holes a day on hilly terrain should he reach the semi-finals and final and it's fair to assume he wouldn't have entered if his doctors didn't think he was up to it.

But you still wonder if Phil is rediscovering his touch at just the right time? Could it be that a combination of Woods needing a few weeks to get back to his own best, and Mickelson's returning magic, might make him a contender at Augusta? He's a tasty [12.5] to win the Masters at the moment and if he follows up the start of yesterday's round at Riviera with more of the same that price will drop pretty quickly.

Five things you might not know about Phil Mickelson

1. He's naturally right-handed, but learned to play golf left-handed because he stood in front of his right-handed dad and copied what he saw

2. He was the first left-hander to win the US Amateur title

3. He's a trained aircraft pilot and backs charities for ex-servicemen - his dad Phil Senior was a Navy Pilot

4. He was axed from a sponsorship deal with Titleist after leaving a voicemail message to a Calloway executive praising their new driver

5. He recently started carrying his own golf bags in practice to help him lose weight

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1. Golf Portugal | 05 March 2009

   Hehe, well Woods is back now so watch out golf pro's its back to the shadows for you!

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