Through the decades: Best pairings on the PGA TOUR

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The Duel in the Sun in 1977 at Turnberry was the high point of the Jack Nicklaus-Tom Watson battles.

DORAL, Fla. -- Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, the two most dominant players of their generation, will command center stage as they play together in the first two rounds at this week's World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship.

The other member of that threesome? Reigning U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell, who knows the Woods-Mickelson spectacle is always one worth watching.

"Decent pairing for Thursday and Friday this week at the WGC-Cadillac Championship in Doral. Myself, Phil and Tiger. Should be great steam," McDowell tweeted after the pairings were announced Tuesday.

Thursday's round will be just the 26th round at an official PGA TOUR event that Woods and Mickelson have been in the same group (they were also paired at the 2009 WGC-HSBC Champions, an unofficial TOUR event).

How Woods, the former world No. 1, and his frequent foil -- who have combined to win 109 PGA TOUR titles -- play remains to be seen. Will it be another thrilling duel like the 2005 Ford Championship at Doral? We can only hope.

Some think this is golf's signature era, but we know better. From Byron Nelson, Sam Snead and Ben Hogan to Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson, there have always been players who moved the needle more than others.

So PGATOUR.COM decided to look at the last six decades and identify the best twosomes of each.

Obviously, there are players -- like Nicklaus -- who transcend multiple eras. But PGATOUR.COM decided to only use a player once. That way some of the other World Golf Hall of Famers would get their due.

This matchup of the two Texans actually goes back to their teenage days in Fort Worth when both were caddies at Glen Garden Country Club, with Nelson beating Hogan in a sudden-death playoff to win the 1927 caddie championship. Unfortunately, they didn't get a chance to square off that often in the '40s, since Hogan missed two years of competition after enlisting in the army during World War II, and Nelson retired after the 1946 season to become a rancher.

But their head-to-head battle in the 1942 Masters was one for the ages, with Nelson beating Hogan by one stroke in an 18-hole playoff for the win. A year ealier, at the 1941 PGA Championship, Nelson and Hogan faced off in the quarterfinals (when the PGA was still a match-play format). Nelson was 1 down through 33 holes but rallied late to win.

Nelson dominated golf while Hogan was in the army, winning a record 11 consecutive TOUR events prior to Hogan's return to the game in August of 1945. Of Nelson's 52 career TOUR wins, 41 came during this decade; of Hogan's 64 career wins, 53 came in the decade. Combined, that's 94 wins in the 1940s for two of golf's most legendary figures.

Snead was a contemporary of Hogan and Nelson, also born in the same year, but his career spanned four decades. He kicked off the 1950s with a win at the Los Angeles Open and went on to capture 29 of his record 82 wins in this decade -- three of which were majors.

Middlecoff, who gave up a career as a dentist to play the PGA TOUR, won 28 times in the 1950s, including two U.S. Opens and a Masters. Twice during the decade, Middlecoff won six times in a season.

This was a hard twosome to choose. The immediate inclination was to pick Jack Nicklaus, who won his first TOUR title at the 1962 U.S. Open, and Palmer, whose throne he usurped. Or Gary Player. But Casper often gets overlooked and he shouldn't -- especially since he rallied to beat Palmer in one of the classic duels in golf history.

In the 1966 U.S. Open at Olympic Club, Palmer led Casper, his playing partner, by seven strokes with nine holes to play. But instead of protecting the lead, the King remained aggressive and started making mistakes. Casper chipped away at the lead and eventually forced an 18-hole playoff the next day, which he won by four strokes.

The portly Californian won 33 times in the 1960s, including that 1966 U.S. Open. And Palmer was nearly unbeatable early in that decade, winning 29 times from 1960-63, and a total of 43 times in that decade. Six of those were majors. Had it not been for Casper, that total would've been seven.

Lee Trevino, who won 19 times and four majors during this decade, was certainly a consideration for Nicklaus. Certainly their 18-hole playoff in the 1971 U.S. Open was a memorable one.

But Nicklaus and Watson, the man who replaced him as the world's best player, had some thrilling battles -- not the least of which came at the 1977 British Open at Turnberry, which is known as the "Duel in the Sun," with Watson shooting 65-65 to beat Nicklaus' 65-66 over the last 36 holes.

Watson actually won 18 times in the 1950s, including three majors -- two of which came at Nicklaus' expense. But the Golden Bear had 38 victories and eight majors.

These two were a contrast in style -- the steady Strange and the swashbuckling Ballesteros.

The Spaniard played much of his golf during that time in Europe, but he did manage seven PGA TOUR wins, four of which were majors. Strange, on the other hand, had 16 TOUR titles and two majors during that decade. He also led the TOUR's money list three times in that stretch.

Perhaps their duels can best be found at the Ryder Cup. Between 1983-1989, the two met at least one time in team competition in each of the four Ryder Cups. In 1987, they squared off in the Sunday singles, with Ballesteros winning 2 and 1 over Strange.

Who can ever forget the awkward but heartfelt embrace they shared at 1996 Masters after Norman squandered a six-stroke lead and Faldo closed with a 67 to win his third Green Jacket?

Again, this is a study in contrasts -- the icy Englishman and the larger-than-life Australian whose nickname is the Great White Shark.

Faldo won four of his six majors and six of his nine TOUR events in this decade. Norman won 12 PGA TOUR titles and his second of two Open Championships in 1993.

Need we say more? While we did not see them go head-to-head on Sunday in a major during the decade, these two set the standards for their generation. They went head-to-head 18 times in official PGA TOUR events between 2000-2009 (click here for complete list).

In 2005, Woods rallied on the final day to overtake playing partner Mickelson in the Ford Championship at Doral, perhaps their most thrilling final-day showdown.

Woods has won 56 times since the new millenium dawned while Mickelson has 25 victories, including his first four majors. Woods has a big lead in the latter category -- with 12 of his 14 majors coming since 2000 but none since the 2008 U.S. Open.