In typical fashion, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, the top two ranked players in the world, played the best and won the most skins Wednesday at the pre-tournament charity event.
The event was broken up into two groups of five players and they each played the back nine. Mickelson played alongside tournament host Jack Nicklaus, as well as Ernie Els, Kenny Perry, and Sean O'Hair.
Mickelson dominated his group by shooting a six under par 30 and winning all nine skins. He blasted his driver all day, was sharp with his irons, made some nice putts, and even holed a bunker shot at the 16th for a win.
"It's been a fun day," Mickelson said. "To be able to play nine holes with Jack Nicklaus is a great feeling. I think it's cool, watching him on the last putt, grinding the way he has in the past, after he has made so many putts on the final hole. It's just fun watching him."
As for Woods, he didn't dominate quite as much as Mickelson, but won six out of the nine skins in his group which included Rory Mcllroy, Steve Stricker, Zach Johnson, and Jim Furyk. He started the day four under par through four holes with a birdie at the 10th, eagle at the 11th, par at the 12th, and birdie at the 13th.
Zach Johnson won the other three skins and the rest of the players had goose eggs.
The real tournament gets underway Thursday with defending champion Woods looking for his first win of 2010.
Woods photo - AP / Tony Dejak
Mickelson photo - AP / Jay Laprete
