For all the talk of the brilliance of the next generation on the PGA Tour, Phil Mickelson believes they don't even come close to Tiger Woods in his prime.
The 45-year-old, who is a five time major champion, told GOLF Monthly that the likes of Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Jason Day and Rickie Fowler aren't in the class of the former world No 1.
Mickelson, who often plays with the young guns in practice rounds and pro-ams to keep sharp, says none of them have the raw talent of the 14-time major champion.
Phil Mickelson has heaped praise on compatriot Tiger Woods.
"There is nobody in the game that I have seen that is remotely close to the level of performance Tiger was in his prime," Mickelson said in an interview on the debut episode of GOLF LIVE.
"Mentally, short game, or ball striking, I don't think anybody matches him in any of those areas. And Tiger put them all together in one to create a career that is mind-boggling in the game of golf."
Mickelson said it was "difficult for me to see the game of golf returning to the level that it was at during [Woods'] heyday."
"As great as the young players are, the level that I've seen out of him, especially when you go back to 2000 at the US Open and his performance when he held all four major championships at once, I think we're decades away from anybody getting back to that level."
It is highly unlikely that, that player will be Woods himself. The golf great is on the recovery from back surgery and in December last year told the media: "I have nothing to look forward to."
The 40-year-old's last major victory was at the US Open in 2008. His most recent PGA Tour victory was the World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational in 2013.
He has not competed competitively since August last year and now his dream of overtaking Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major titles seems like a tough ask.
0 nhận xét:
Đăng nhận xét