Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods were never close friends during their prime years, but their relationship was a cordial one.
Woods was the dominant figure in golf in the late-1990s all the way through until 2008 when he tore his ACL and had two stress fractures in his tibia at the US Open. His record of 15 majors and 82 PGA Tour wins in total speaks for itself.
Mickelson was the world number two for most of that time, and he is a legendary figure in the game in his own right, with 45 PGA Tour wins to his name, including six major championships.
Interestingly, Mickelson and Woods were both being touted as Ryder Cup captains for the 2027 edition of the competition at Adare Manor in Ireland, until the former ruled himself out of contention.
The two giants of the game haven’t really crossed swords since the six-time major winner jumped ship to LIV Golf three years ago.
Back in 2022, Woods shared his disapproval of Mickelson’s move to LIV Golf, and indeed the Saudi-backed golf league as a whole.
However, the controversial exchange of words between Mickelson and the president of Nike way back in 2003 was much more heated.
Phil Mickelson’s comments about Tiger Woods and Nike in 2023
Mickelson set tongues wagging with his comments on the 15-time major champion 22 years ago.
At the time, the two Americans were the best golfers on the planet.
However, Mickelson, who was sponsored by Titleist at the time, sat down for an interview with Golf Magazine in 2003, and responded when asked if there were any issues between him and Woods.
He said: “Well, maybe one. He hates that I can fly it past him now. He has a faster swing speed than I do, but he has inferior equipment. Tiger is the only player who is good enough to overcome the equipment he’s stuck with.“
It’s clear to see that Mickelson was praising Woods’ ability. However, the same can’t be said for his back-handed dig at Nike’s golf equipment manufacturing skills.
So perhaps it was no surprise when the now retired former president of Nike, Bob Wood, fired back at Mickelson.
Nike president responded to Phil Mickelson after Tiger Woods claim
Wood was clearly not at all happy with Mickelson’s remarks.
And he fired back at the 45-time PGA Tour winner with a no-nonsense response.
He said: “I question his motives for saying what he did. I really question the wisdom of Phil Mickelson calling Tiger Woods out. “This is a guy who has never beaten Tiger in any significant tournament, and this is what he believes, what he says? That’s a laughable assertion.“
That was a fair comment from Wood, as it was quite obvious that Mickelson was belittling Nike as a golf manufacturer with his initial comments.
However, the LIV Golf star responded to Wood’s remarks by saying: “It was meant as nothing more than a positive comment on Tiger’s incredible talent.
“As I’ve said many times, I have great respect for Tiger. I also have respect for any manufacturer, particularly those that can put their clubs in the hands of the world’s best players. I am thrilled with my Titleist equipment and proud to represent the company but my remark was absolutely not intended as a knock on any other manufacturer.“
That was backtracking of the very highest order from Mickelson, and Woods would have been fully aware of that, as the Nike president would have as well.
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