The rankings might not reflect them as the world's top two players, but golf fans will get their dream pairing when the WGC-Cadillac Championship begins Thursday at the Doral Resort and Spa near Miami.
Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson will be paired together for at least the first two rounds.
Woods, ranked fifth in the world, and Mickelson, ranked sixth, will be joined by reigning US Open champ Graeme McDowell. They will tee off at the 10th tee at 11:51am ET Thursday.
It will mark the 27th time since the beginning of Woods' first full season as a professional in 1997 that he and Mickelson have played together during any round on the PGA Tour. Their last pairing came during the final round of last year's BMW Championship.
In their previous 26 PGA Tour rounds together, each has shot lower than the other 11 times and there have been four ties. Woods has shot the lower score only once in the last eight matchups.
The two were involved in two dramatic duels at Doral. In 2005, Woods shot a final-round 66 to beat Mickelson for the win. In 2006, they were grouped together in the third round when Woods repeated as champ.
Woods won the first WGC event at Doral in 2007 and Mickelson won the title in 2009.
Woods is still searching for his first victory since 2009 after a tumultuous 2010 that saw him divorce from wife Elin Nordegren and take a break from the game amid revelations of numerous mistresses.
