Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson‘s rivalry has seen some exciting contests over the years. Both individuals have always tried to one-up each other when they are matched together. Their competitive nature and amazing skills often lead to some of the most brilliant strokeplay. Mickelson may have been the closest match to the prime Woods. But the GOAT usually had an answer for anything that was thrown at him. A great example of that was the 2002 U.S. Open, where, despite a valiant effort by Mickelson, Woods completely dominated the tournament. Yet, Lefty and Mr. T were always at each other’s throats. According to ESPN, the two were paired together 31 times. During such occasions, Woods averaged 69.63 and Mickelson had an average score of 70.06. Besides being paired together, the two veterans also often crossed paths on the course due to the close contests between them. This led to a lot of dialogue between the two as they tried to get in each other’s heads.

Woods’s former caddie recollected one such moment where he joined in on the conversation. Steve Williams and Evin Priest joined the Fried Egg Golf with Andy Johnson a few hours ago. During one of the segments, Johnson raised the question, “Was there a particular player that Tiger would get up a little bit more for?” After sharing a short laugh with the group as they all knew where this was heading, Williams said “There’s no question who that person is. Was Lefty, Mr. Phil Mickelson. There’s no player he would get up for more,” as everyone laughed it off for how obvious the answer was.

The veteran caddie then revealed something interesting: “whilst they weren’t the greatest of mates, he had unbelievable admiration for Phil’s game.” Woods’s dislike towards Mickelson is not a secret, but his respect for the latter might come as a surprise to some. Williams explained how after the LIV Golf pro won his first major championship, the GOAT wanted to be content for one every time his rival was going for his second. Because Woods wanted to stop Mickelson from winning another major championship on the course.

Johnson followed that up with another question. He asked, “Was there a particular win when Phil was there that you think he took the most satisfaction from?” After giving it a moment’s thought, Williams recollected, “Tiger won the Ford Doral Open in 2005 and Phil was with Ford at the time. I had great pleasure and a bit of a laugh when Tiger gave me the keys to that Ford GT40 (winning prize for the tournament). Sometime after getting the delivery of the car the next time I saw Phil after I had taken delivery of the car, I said ‘Oh, Phil. You wouldn’t have fit in it anyway.” The trio laughed it off as one can imagine Mickelson would have been quite frustrated after hearing Woods’s caddie say that.

We’re sure Tiger Woods would have also had a laugh knowing about the conversation between Williams and Mickelson. The duo shared many more wins together through their long partnership. Let’s see what they achieved in their time together.

Tiger Woods & Steve Williams vs. Phil Mickelson & the world

Steve Williams was one of the longest-running caddies for Tiger Woods. The pair linked up for 12 straight years from 1999 to 2011. During this period, Woods won 63 PGA Tour titles, including 13 majors. They also had 10 international wins and multiple PGA Grand Slam of Golf and Target World Challenge titles. Williams and Woods also played in 6 Presidents Cups and 5 Ryder Cups together.

Despite the impressive record, Steve Williams has been quite critical of Tiger Woods as a boss. He even claimed that the GOAT treated him like a slave for most of their time together. But in February 2024, Williams changed his tune when he confessed that he was incredibly close to Woods. That took the world by surprise, as for many years, everyone was made to believe that the 15x major winner was actually a terrible boss to the veteran caddie.

Anyway, the two might have definitely shared quite a few laughs at Phil Mickelson’s expense over the years. Can you recall any other incident where Tiger Woods dominated Lefty on the course? Share your memories in the comments section.