At the 2020 ZOZO Championship and played at Sherwood Country Club, Mickelson was his usual gale force of energy working his coffee/launch monitor/intense warm-ups. Each ZOZO day Tiger was visible in the fitness trailer (doors open for ventilation!) preparing his body ready for play.
Still, Sunday’s late back nine grouping with Adam Long featured plenty of mediocre golf by their lofty standards and a sense that weekend groups featuring the two legends will be rare.
Rex Hoggard writes for GolfChannel.com:
It was a starkly unceremonious end for the two legends who were grouped together in a PGA Tour event for the 38th time. Sixteen strokes off the lead to start the final round of the Zozo Championship, this was a formality. It also was likely the anti-climactic end to a largely anti-climactic head-to-head history between the two titans.
They’ll find themselves in a manufactured group for Rounds 1 and 2 at an event starved for attention somewhere down the road, but the chances of the duo landing together in a meaningful weekend tee time is about as likely as the two sharing a plane ride home.
Tiger was pleased with his putting that did look infinitely more relaxed on the greens as of late, though he still has a tendency to put a pop stroke on the ball. That, combined with really sporatic iron play, will need serious work if he’s to defend his Masters win.
From Steve DiMeglio’s Golfweek account of the Woods/Mickelson grouping.
“The only thing I can take out of this week that I did positively I feel like each and every day and pretty much every hole is I putted well,” said Woods, the defending champion who finished with rounds of 76-66-71-74 and 22 shots behind winner Patrick Cantlay. The 76 and 74 were two of the three worst rounds he’s ever shot at Sherwood in 52 rounds. He won five times here and finished runner-up five times in 12 starts heading into this week. “I feel like I rolled it great. Unfortunately, most of them were for pars and a couple for bogeys here and there, but not enough for birdies.”
Woods has just one top-10 this year in eight starts.
Mickelson’s drive remains admirable but on-course swing looks strained and way too long at times. After the round, he gave an assessment and schedule plans heading to Augusta.
PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, I have some pretty good direction on where I need to go with my game and I'll take this week to work on it and try to apply it the week before. I'll go home, talk to Amy, see what course is sort of best suited to get me ready, which one allows me to hit more drivers maybe. Like to hit some mid irons, but also like to chip and putt. I'm not sure. I know nothing about Memorial Park. I have played Phoenix Country Club quite a bit, but I'll see what course is best to get ready and I'll do that. But this week I'll take to work on a couple of things and, you know, see if I can get my game sharper.