Phil-Vijay battles rare, even at Presidents Cup

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Former President George H. W. Bush, Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh gather on the final day of the 2007 Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal. Mickelson beat Singh, 5 and 4, in their Singles match.

Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh have each taken their best shots at Tiger Woods during the last decade. But, save for an unfortunate spikes incident at the 2005 Masters, they have taken very few shots at each other.

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That's certainly been the case at The Presidents Cup, which is unusual considering the number of potential opportunities there have been for these golf dynamos to collide in this biennial competition between the U.S. and the other non-European countries.

Mickelson and Singh are the only ones who have played in all seven Presidents Cup Matches -- a streak that reaches eight this week at Harding Park in San Francisco -- but they have only played against each other five times out of a possible 35 pairings. They played against each other once in 1994, 1996 and 2000 before they squared off twice in the 2007 matches in Montreal, including their first Singles tussle.

Their record, because we're always keeping score, is: Mickelson 3, Singh 1, with one halve.

For Mickelson, that's a good mark considering he has an overall losing record in The Presidents Cup at 11-13-9, no thanks to an 0-5 slate in 2003. Singh also has lost more Presidents Cup matches than he has won (14-15-6), a testament to the vagaries of match play and how tiny a difference there is between the players at the top of the world rankings.

What's surprising is both players have struggled in the format best suited for a golfer: Singles. Mickelson is 1-3-3, Singh 1-4-2. Mickelson won his lone Singles match in '07, trouncing Singh 5 and 4.

This is their Presidents Cup history, but save for that foot-stomping time at Augusta National in 2005, there's very little history between Lefty and Singh.

We all talk about how we want to see a showdown between Woods and Mickelson, and Woods vs. Singh or Woods against Ernie Els. But there's very little discussion of a Mickelson-Singh battle.

Insiders say how they almost came to blows in '05 during a rain delay in the champions' locker room when Mickelson heard Singh was complaining to a Masters rules official that Lefty's metal spikes were too long. But that spat was soon smoothed over like a sand-filled divot.

Put it this way: You won't see Singh's caddy wearing a "Phil Who?" on the back of his cap. Singh's former bagman, Paul Tesori, wore the "Tiger Who?" hat at the 2000 Presidents Cup when the two squared off in Singles. By the back nine, neither player was giving a putt outside a gimme, with Woods gritting his way to a 2-and-1 victory.

No such shenanigans have occurred between Phil and Vijay in the 15-year history of The Presidents Cup. It's not going to happen this week, either.

This has been a trying year for both men, for vastly different reasons. Mickelson has endured hearing the news that his wife, Amy, and mother, Mary, were diagnosed with breast cancer. Mickelson put his game into hiatus, returning briefly to finish tied for second at the U.S. Open. Mickelson struggled some more, before last month he memorably won THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola to finish second to Woods in the FedExCup standings.

Singh didn't even make it to East Lake to defend his FedExCup title. His season got off to an awkward start when he underwent arthroscopic knee surgery in January. He admitted he came back too soon and posted just three top-10s, the fewest he's had since joining the PGA TOUR in 1993.

Some are now wondering if Singh, who broke Sam Snead's record for the most TOUR wins after turning 40 (22), is finally wearing down from a lifetime of beating balls. The 46-year-old Singh insists he's not too concerned.

"I know my golf swing really well, and I just need one or two good rounds under my belt to get it going," Singh said last month. "There's nothing wrong with my golf swing; it's just going out there and not worrying about what's happening in my head, just go and play the game.

The two stars have shared another issue this year: Sub-par work on the greens. Singh ranks 176th on TOUR in putts per round (29.88) and 167th in putting average (1.81 per every green hit in regulation).

Mickelson, who ranks 75th with 28.92 putts per round, was so frustrated with his work on the greens he sought out putting guru Dave Stockton before THE TOUR Championship. By returning to a forward press on his putts, Mickelson responded by one-putting 36-of-72 greens at East Lake to win by three shots over Woods.

Mickelson will bring more than a renewed putting touch to Harding Park this week. He is one of the veterans U.S. captain Fred Couples can count on in any match or any situation. There are few situations, in fact, Mickelson hasn't been placed in during his Hall of Fame career.

The same goes for Singh. Each has won three majors, but Singh is the only player other than Woods to have won the FedExCup, a money title during the last decade and joins Padraig Harrington as the lone players not named Woods to win Player of the Year in the last 10 years.

Take Woods away from the discussion, and no players have accomplished more during this generation than Mickelson and Singh.

There have been occasions when Couples has asked to compete against Singh in The Presidents Cup (Couples is 2-0-1 vs. Singh in Singles). But you don't need a history book to realize it would be great to see Mickelson and Singh meet again as The Presidents Cup veterans that they are.

At the moment, it appears their games are headed in opposite directions. But they always seem to bump into each other at The Presidents Cup.

Craig Dolch is a freelance columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.