The U.S. has been on a wild ride in 2020, dealing with a pandemic, mass social unrest and other dovetailing crises. Sometimes, you need to look away from the horror show and offer up some good old-fashioned gratitude to the skies, or, in Phil Mickelson’s case, to Tiger Woods.
On Tuesday night at 10:07 p.m. ET, the newest Champions Tour champion picked up his phone and thumbed out a message to Woods, the man he spent the prime of his career battling on the golf course, trying in vain to wrest away the No. 1 world ranking.
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In his older age (Phil turned 50 in June), Mickelson is clearly feeling thankful for his life and the success he’s had on the course, and according to the tweet in question, a lot of that gratitude is directed towards Tiger and what he did for the game of golf.
“Dear Tiger,” began the tweet from the five-time major champion, “Thank you for all that you’ve done for this great game of golf. No one has benefited more than me.”
And just to drive the point home, he continued. “I just wanted you to know I appreciate you and all you’ve done. That’s all. Thank you.”
Based on the reaction on Twitter, many read the tweet as a heartwarming display of unity between two former rivals. But Mickelson is known for his humor and gentle ribbing of his fellow pros, especially since he joined Twitter two years ago, so the intention wasn’t immediately clear.
A more likely scenario, given the time of the tweet, is that Phil had just knocked back a few glasses of 1985 vintage Haut-Brion and was genuinely feeling the love towards the reigning Masters champ.
It appears to be the latter. When a follower asked Phil the reason for the Tiger tweet, he responded simply, “Random appreciation.”
Both Phil and Tiger failed to make the field at this year’s Tour Championship, but they’ll both be squarely in the mix in two weeks’ time when the postponed U.S. Open hits Winged Foot.