Things are bound to get a little crazy in the desert this week. But that’s usually the case at The Waste Management Open which also goes as the Greatest Show on Grass.
With the “Biggest Party in Golf” staged around the par three sixteenth we all know that this week brings some outrageous and memorable moments. Add the Super Bowl into the mix which is played just down the street on Sunday and we are faced with one wild week. 
And with Tiger Woods making his 2015 debut this week things are about to go off the charts. Tiger is back for the first time since 2001 when he stopped heading to TPC Scottsdale because of security issues. Fans through an orange onto a green near Woods and there were reports that he received death threats.
Let’s hope that the only threat to Woods will be all those golfers who have now taken over the top spots in the game.
This week is one of those rare occasions that Phil Mickelson and Woods will be in the field together. It seems it is only the majors, WGC and maybe a few FedEx Cup events that we get a Tiger/Phil matchup.
But those days of the golf world giddily anticipating a classic mano y mano duel from Phil and Tiger are long gone. There have been so few occasions when any real competition between the two came down to Sunday afternoon.
Sure, the 2009 Masters saw them paired together and for awhile they had us on the edge of our seats but they faded and Angel Cabrera went on to win and left millions of Tiger/Phil fans disappointed.
The last event where they really went at it was in 2005 at Doral when the two of them battled to the last with Tiger topping his supposed rival.
Those days, which were far too rare, are gone. Can any of us say there is a true Woods/Mickelson rivalry today? Absolutely not.
Both golfers are certainly searching for their form with Tiger recovering from injuries and reworking his swing with a new coach. Last season was marked by injuries and withdrawals for Woods and he definitely wants to move on from that disaster.
Certainly he still has game. Let’s remember that Woods won five times in 2013.
Phil is coming off his first winless season in over 20 years. 2014 was a very forgettable season for Mickelson but he did win here in 2013 and claimed his first Open Championship later that summer.
So while both players have some game left in their bags I think the days of our desperately anticipated Phil versus Tiger Battle Royal are long gone.
It is always more interesting with both Woods and Mickelson in the field but it is just a matter of time before those waiting for that head to head matchup are disappointed.
This week probably won’t be much different. The age of the Woods/Mickelson rivalry is over. But at least we’ll have the Super Bowl Sunday night.
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