‘It All Started With Phil and I’: Tiger Woods Reveals How the Legend Himself and His LIV Golf Rival Phil Mickelson Contributed to the Special Addition to Golf

Capital One’s ‘The Match’ will begin on December 10, Saturday, from 6 pm E.T. at Pelican Golf Club in Florida. It might be a mere exhibition tournament for the spectators of the game, but for Tiger Woods, one of the competitors of the 2022 edition, it means a lot more than that. And he has a reason for it. 

The unofficial event began in 2018 with Woods and his all-time rival Phil Mickelson battling in a one-on-one match. The tournament has been held five times ever since then, and the 15-time major champion believes it helped the sport reach a lot in the areas no other sports could ever touch. 

Tiger Woods talked about the impact of ‘The Match’ on golf

Woods is paired up with Rory McIlroy to play in the 7th edition of ‘The Match’. Their team will compete against the best friend-duo Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas. Although it is an exhibition game, Woods believes the event has helped in many causes and been an important part of the sport. 

“It all started with Phil (Mickelson) and I,” he said in an interview ahead of The Match. “And then Covid hit,” he added. 

The 82-time PGA Tour champion revealed that the event made a record during the pandemic period that helped others to regain the confidence to live a normal life. “The first live sporting event (to) be held was us,” he proudly said. “Golf was the first one to actually get out there during covid and then show that it is safe to be able to play.” 

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Notably, after the winner-take-all event with Mickelson in 2018, Woods and Peyton Manning teamed up against Lefty and Tom Brady in ‘The Match: Champions for Charity’ during the Covid-19 pandemic. The event raised over $20 million for the Covid-19 relief fund. 

Has the 15-time major champion ever won ‘The Match’ title?

Since its inception, Capital One has conducted six ‘The Match’ events in total, and Woods has played in it twice. Notably, both of them were against the LIV Golf player Mickelson and played at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas. 

During the first event – Tiger vs. Phil, Lefty triumphed over his longtime rival and earned the $9 million prize money. Woods got his pride back in style when he won the second edition of the event in 2020 by teaming up with the retired quarterback Manning against Mickelson and the Tampa Bay Buccaneer star QB, Tom Brady.  

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Woods has a history with ‘The Match’ and according to him, it is much more than an exhibition event.