Woods and Mickelson Paired up for Rounds 1 and 2 of US Open

If you’re going to tune in to the U.S. Open, what better paring to watch then Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson?  Don’t expect smiles and laughs between these two, as we’re sure it will be all game faces from the very first tee.

If that’s not enough to grab your attention…recent Masters Winner Bubba Watson will join them in their group.

This is first time that tiger and Phil will be paired in this tournament since the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. “I get excited to play with Tiger, I love it,” said Phil in an interview on Tuesday, “he gets the best out of me.”  It wasn’t always advantageous for Mickelson at the beginning of his career when paired with Tiger. “When we first started playing, I don’t know what it was exactly, but I didn’t play my best when we were paired together.”

Phil has since picked it up since and has competed well against Tiger when being paired with the 14 time major winner.  Last time the two were paired up in any tournament was in February at the AT&T Pebble Beach; where Phil went on to beat Tiger and take the trophy.  Mickelson has 40 PGA Tour wins and 4 major titles, none of which are from the U.S. Open.  Phil is certainly no stranger to the territory however.  He finished in the top-10 9 times, with 5 runner ups.

Tiger took a different approach with the media. “We’ve got work to do,” he said, citing that there is no extra motivation to play with Phil Mickelson.

Be prepared for some great golf from this paring this week.  Perhaps Bubba’s pink driver will loosen the tension a bit.

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