Contrary to popular belief, Mickelson is lucky to be playing in the Tiger Woods era

As expected, Tiger and Phil playing together in the first two rounds of the PGA is getting a great deal of attention. We are all familiar with the idea that Phil is unfortunate to be playing during the same time as Tiger Woods; I’ve heard this statement for years and agreed, never really giving it too much thought.

But after reading an ESPN article about this weekend’s championship, something Phil said makes me think about the situation a little differently. “It’s been a fun challenge for me and the other guys to play against him, and he’s also pushed me to work harder and get better and achieve levels of success I may not have achieved,” Mickelson explained.

I’ve always known that Mickelson has elevated his level of play (as have Els, Singh, and many of the other top players) as a result of Tiger’s initial dominance, but today is the first time I have felt that Mickelson might not ever have won a major if Tiger hadn’t come along.

If Phil wasn’t forced to improve his game after constantly getting smoked by Tiger, it is very feasible to think that Mickelson would have continued to be a great talent with a lot of lower-tier wins, a larger manzier (or “bro” if you prefer) size, and a hot wife to show for it. Instead, Mickelson decided to swallow his pride, reign in his game a little bit, and stop blowing his chances. Had Tiger not come along, Mickelson might still be the best-player-to-have-never-won-a-major, and Ernie Els might have twice the majors he does now.

Overall, I have to stay that Sergio Garcia is really the player who is most unfortunate to be playing in this era. He burst onto the scene, drew a great fan base, and waggled his way to a few near-wins. But the fact is that Sergio is not as talented as Tiger or Phil, and his best chance might be behind him because the field has improved tremendously since Sergio’s showdown with Tiger. Even if Sergio works harder than all of the other best players in the world, I’m still not sure if I would pick him to win on a major Sunday.