Tiger Woods against Phil Mickelson: Face-off aborted for pay-per-view duel

When golfers think they are boxers: Mickelson and Woods are confronted

The efforts of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson to smack & # 39; to talk before their winner-takes-all-game in Las Vegas ended in laughter and handshakes.

Organizers of the $ 9 million confrontation of Friday (£ 7 million) hoped to blow up the rivalry in a press conference for the pay-per-view duel at Shadow Creek Golf Club.

But there were more compliments than & # 39; trash talk & # 39; from the American couple.

And a & # 39; face-off & # 39; in boxing style lasted only a few seconds, while neither man was able to keep a straight face.

There was an icy relationship between the two since Woods had the desire of Mickelson, six years his eldest at 48, early in his career.

Woods had won eight big victories before Mickelson broke his duck in 2004.

Mickelson now has five big wins while Woods, a 14-time major winner, recovered from a back operation to reach his first PGA Tour victory in September for five years and they now play practice rouges together.

"I just do not want to lose him and give him the satisfaction because the bragging rights will be worse than the money," Mickelson said.

"Every time I see you, I want to rub it in. I want to sit in the dressing room of the champion in Augusta and talk smack, I want that."

Woods described Mickelson as "one of the biggest players ever to pick up a golf club" while Mickelson said, "He's the greatest of all time, I've seen him do things with a golf ball that's never been done before."

Mickelson is currently in 27th place in the world while Woods 13 is

Woods added: "We've been doing it for more than two decades, I have not made it [while injured] and I can go against Phil. "

The contest, in which both players will wear microphones, coincides with the Thanksgiving weekend. And without fans on the track, the only option is to watch it live, pay-TV (19455002)

"This event is intended as a unique experience for the wave viewer to create a production from drone coverage to games of chance on the screen, live microphones and interaction, "said Mickelson.

"It's an insight into the game that you normally can not see, so it's on pay-per because we had to eliminate the commercials to have that insight between the shots."