Opposites attracted to ultimate Open pairing: Tiger vs. Lefty
"My ears were ringing," Woods said, laughing.
Now hear this: Exactly how the players feel about the other guy's fan base is open to question. For instance, Mickelson was baited in an attempt to elicit one of his trademark witticisms: "What's the difference between your fans and Tiger's fans, other than yours are obviously the smart ones?"
It was an 80 mph, gopher-ball lob over the middle of the plate. Lefty got a glint in his eye, thought the better of it, and gave a PC answer not worth repeating. Playing it cautious, of course, runs anathema to every moral fiber of his being. Ask his peeps.
"No knock on Tiger, but I like Phil because you never know what the guy is going to do," said Sandy McPherson, who had just secured an autograph from her hero at the Memorial Tournament in Ohio. "I think Phil could shoot 65 and not hit a single green. Tiger is kind of boring."
Woods, of course, prefers to trod the fairway road most traveled and doesn't have time for interacting with fans along the way. As Woods freely concedes, he can't play like Mickelson or ever-animated Lee Trevino, because he's just not wired that way. Woods is polite but hardly congenial.
"Phil is more likely to be goofy at any moment, where you never see Tiger do that," Janzen observed. "Tiger, he has this bubble around him, and he doesn't want anybody around him inside it when he is on the course."
It's Mr. Accessible vs. Mr. Invincible.
Woods' stoic, impenetrable persona is part of the allure, but his performance is his biggest drawing card. His personality and magnetism are second to his mission to become the greatest ever to lace up cleats with kilties. Mickelson has picked up fans because Woods has been so ridiculously dominant, it's created a polarizing influence. Sort of like rooting against the New England Patriots and any other dynastic entity you'd care to float. On the other hand, Woods also draws shameless front-runners and fair-weather types who jump ship when he struggles.
"It's almost like it's all too easy for Tiger," said McPherson, 31, who works in a department store.
That's rarely the case for Lefty. Flameout-induced burns and all, Mickelson attracted loyalists because of the dues he has paid over the years, while never sacrificing his sense of humor. He's analogous to popular Olympic speedskater Dan Jansen, who kept falling on his butt, then finally claimed his long-overdue medals later in life. Mickelson played in more than 40 major championships before he finally won his first.
That breakthrough moment, at the 2004 Masters, was shared by his long-suffering fans, who showed that they willingly will endure and even embrace failure, if the central figure is likeable enough.
Of the 42,000 fans holding daily tickets at Torrey Pines, it's a safe bet roughly 30,000 will be jockeying for position Thursday and Friday to get a glimpse of their personal hero.
Tactical and practical takes on sling it and wing it.
"It's going to be a circus; it will be an absolute zoo," tour veteran Pat Perez said. "Especially with Phil. Phil is hometown. And Tiger is always hometown wherever he goes. The crowds are going to be incredible."
As thought they weren't pulling enough of their own backers, even the rare unaligned fans are watching. Brad Bryant, the reigning U.S. Senior Open champion, is playing this week, but is considering taking an extra walk outside the ropes.
"Tell you what," Bryant said Wednesday, "I might even go out and watch those guys for a while."
