The Loop

Phil Mickelson reveals how he once used Tony Romo to gain a mental edge on Tiger Woods

November 13, 2018

On the few occasions Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson were paired together on Sundays during their careers, the rounds never really quite lived up to the hype. There were some outliers, like the 2001 Masters, 2005 at Doral and the front nine of the 2009 Masters, but for the most part, they all fell a little flat.

Perhaps the most notorious of these occasions was the last time they faced off on a Sunday at the 2012 Pebble Beach Pro-Am, when Mickelson trounced Woods by an astounding 11 shots, with Lefty carding a 64 to Woods' 75. While Mickelson's winning performance was still quite the show, it felt a bit deflating for those hoping for an epic duel between the two legends at an iconic course. Woods looked overmatched from the outset, and we may now know whose fault it was: Tony Romo.

Okay, so a lot of the blame has to be placed on Tiger, who played horribly on that overcast Sunday on the Monterrey Peninsula. But, in the latest preview for Tuesday night's episode of HBO's "24/7," which is chronicling the lead up to "THE MATCH," Mickelson revealed how he gained a mental edge on Woods before the round even began. According to the five-time major winner, it had to do with the fact he had dinner with Romo, Woods' pro-am partner that week, on the eve of the final round.

"That night, before the final round, there was a big dinner that Jim Nantz put on, and I got seated next to Tony," Mickelson says. "We had this great night, had a lot of fun, but I knew that it would bother Tiger with his partner. Tony knew this would also bother him too, so he said to his caddie 'don't mention that I had dinner last night with Phil, just don't even bring up the dinner."

Here's the rest of the hilarious story, including the part where Phil did in fact bring up the dinner while Tiger was within earshot:

Peak Phil. The trash talk is strong with this one. It will be interesting to see if Tiger has any response to this supposed mental edge, which is plenty of reason to tune into HBO on Tuesday night. Strongly doubt he would admit such a thing.