When golf fans are asked what the 2004 Ryder Cup is remembered for, it is likely that it will not take too long before Hal Sutton’s decision to pair Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson together gets a mention.
Sutton decided to do what the likes of Tom Kite, Ben Crenshaw and Curtis Strange all opted against, by pairing Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson together at Oakland Hills. Unsurprisingly, the pair were the two highest ranked players on either side that week in Michigan.
It was an opportunity for USA to gain some early momentum as they looked to regain the cup. Sutton put the pair out in the first match of the week as Bernhard Langer sent out Europe’s Ryder Cup talisman Colin Montgomerie and their own highest ranked player Pádraig Harrington.
In the end, it was a 2&1 European win. And it was a similar story in the afternoon as Mickelson and Woods were beaten by Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood in the foursomes. Mickelson’s wayward drive on the 18th hole forced Woods to take a drop after just managing to remain in bounds.
Why Tiger Woods thought his Ryder Cup partnership with Phil Mickelson did not work
The two would never play together in the Ryder Cup again. And Woods was subsequently asked why the ‘dream team’ of himself and Mickelson did not gel as the US went on to suffer a record defeat.
“I thought we gelled. We just didn’t make enough putts,” he said.
“You know, when they birdie, what, six out of the first eight holes against you on this golf course, that’s pretty good playing. We were right there. We were one down. Even though they threw all of that at us we were only one down. If we could have just gotten it to all-square, somehow, I thought we would have turned the tide if we’d have done that, but we just didn’t do that.
“At the time, number 12 was a huge hole. Both of us are long enough to make it there in two with no problem. We didn’t do it. Ended up losing the hole and they got the momentum.
“In the afternoon, we struggled a little bit, just again didn’t make enough putts. When it comes right down to it, if you look at the highlights of the whole Ryder Cup in general, you’ll see the Europeans making just a boatload of putts.
“That’s what it comes down to. I think we hit the ball just as good, if about the same, but you’ve got to make putts.”
The reason Mickelson believed his partnership with Woods failed
Interestingly, Mickelson would have a slightly different view on why the partnership did not work during a 2016 interview. Lefty claimed that having little notice of knowing that they were going to be playing together meant that he was not prepared to use the same golf ball as Woods.
“In the history of my career, I have never ball-tested two days prior to a major. I’ve never done it. Had we known a month in advance, we might have been able to make it work. I think we probably would have made it work. But we didn’t know until two days prior,” he said.
Of course, that does not entirely explain why they were unable to blow Montgomerie and Harrington in the fourballs. That opening session left the USA behind the eight ball from the very start – with only a half point to show from the first four matches.
Perhaps history is a little harsher to Woods and Mickelson than it should be, given that both of their matches reached the 17th green at least. But there is no question that Europe were able to make a big statement with their performance on Friday.
Rather than have Woods and Mickelson fighting for two different points in the opening session, Sutton put his best eggs in one basket – and paid the price.
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