Tiger Phil Commit to Western Open

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson will return to work next week. Both men have entered the field for the Cialis Western Open.

The world’s two top-ranked players will be making their first competitive starts since the U.S. Open, which finished in frustrating fashion for one and agonizingly so for the other.

Woods, who was making his first start in nine weeks due to the death of his father, missed the cut at Winged Foot by three strokes, shooting back-to-back 6-over 76s.

Mickelson, on the other hand, not only made it to the weekend, but nearly won his third consecutive major championship. Mickelson led by one stroke standing on the 72nd tee, but sliced a driver off a hospitality tent and into the left rough. He then over-cut his second shot causing it to hit a tree. He ultimately finished with a double bogey, and finished one shot behind winner Geoff Ogilvy.

Mickelson was scheduled to compete in this past week’s ING Par-3 Shootout, but he pulled out, saying that he wasn’t in the right frame of mind.

Mickelson has never fared well in the Western. In nine career starts, he has never cracked the top-25.

Woods, meanwhile, is a three-time Western winner, capturing the gold medal in 1997, ’99 and 2003. In 10 career starts, he has six top-10 finishes, including three in a row at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club. The only time hes ever missed the cut at the was as an amateur in 1994.

This will likely be the only start for both men before the season’s third major championship, the Open Championship, in two weeks.

Mickelson currently leads the money list with $4,046,893. In 14 starts, he has a pair of victories; they came in back-to-back weeks at the BellSouth Classic and the Masters Tournament.

Woods has played only eight times on the PGA TOUR, but also has two wins (Buick Invitational and Ford Championship). He is seventh in earnings with $2,485,083.

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