If you are even a casual golf fan, you already know that the Ryder Cup is being contested in Medinah, Illinois and that Team USA is doing well going into the final day Match Play on Sunday.   The major reason for Team USA’s performance has been primarily based on the play of many of what I like to call the “Young Guns.”  The Ryder Cup “rookies,” if you will, have played exceptionally well in spite of the pressures.

What you may have missed is the complete and utter contrast between the two (2) premier veterans of the Ryder Cup ... Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods.  It is a contrast as different as the two (2) men as have the results of their play. 

Both have been paired with the same partner for all three (3) of the four (4) rounds they have played, and that is where any similarity ends.

Phil was teamed with Keegan Bradley.  Phil has been said to have originally had a mentor/student relationship with Bradley, 16 years his junior, which has grown into a true friendship.   Their play has been nothing short of brilliant, with Bradley’s youthful verve inspiring Phil’s performance in spite of his psoriatic arthritis.   They have convincingly won all three (3) rounds they have played as a team.

Tiger was teamed with Steve Stricker, a Captain’s Pick, whom many believe - myself included - was handpicked because he had had some modicum of success playing with Tiger’s incredible ego in past Ryder Cup events.   Steve is 45 years old, while Tiger is 36.  The only real thing both have in common is that both players have returned to play well after significant downturns in their careers. 

So, partners aside, lets just contrast Phil and Tiger for the moment. 

Phil, from the time he was in college, was expected to become one of the dominant players on the PGA Tour.  While he has won forty (40) times with four (4) Majors, he has never seriously contended to be the World’s #1 ranked player.  I have always believed that it was simply because golf was secondary to him as a devout family man.  Surely the way he reacted when severe illness struck his wife proved that.  Now, quite nicely recovered, she and their three (3) daughters regularly can be seen cheering Daddy on from the other side of the ropes.

Tiger, was (some say) “bred” to play golf by his father, Earl.  His skill set finely and continuously honed from his appearance on the Mike Douglas Show, thru the amateur ranks, and thru most of his PGA Tour career.  He has only one real goal left, and that is to surpass the number of Majors wins of The Golden Bear, Jack Nicklaus.   Unfortunately, along the way, Tiger’s seemingly perfect storybook private life was torn assunder by the revelation that he maintained a double life, replete with numerous reports of an appetite for debauchery. 

Phil and Tiger have both had physical challenges.  Phil’s have seemingly been remediated by medication and diet changes.  Tiger’s took a significant chunk of time to rehabilitate from.  Neither have had significant complaints within recent memory.

So, aside from their six (6) years age differential, Phil is playing so much better in this Ryder Cup, but Tiger only has scant periods where the remnants of yesteryear shine thru.  I think it is simply mental attitude.  Phil is invigourated by his partner, and Tiger’s partner was asked to babysit him.  That is unfortunate to have to say about Steve, whom I admire greatly.  The fruits of Friday and Saturday bear me out.