Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson set for $9m duel

By Phil Casey

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson will go head-to-head in a winner-takes-all $9m (£7m) exhibition match in Las Vegas.

The Americans, who have 19 major championship titles between them, will face off in the 18-hole event at Shadow Creek Golf Course on 23 or 24 November.

The contest, which will coincide with Thanksgiving weekend in the US in November, will be screened on pay-per-view.

Mickelson, who has attracted almost 100,000 followers in less than 24 hours on Twitter, said to Woods:

I bet you think this is the easiest $9m you will ever make.

At present, the US Open delivers the largest winning pay cheque of the four major championships at about $2.16m (£1.68m), though the winner of the FedExCup — awarded for an accumulation of points on the US PGA Tour — can expect to earn a bonus of $10m (£7.8m).

The possibility of a duel between the former Ryder Cup team-mates has been mooted repeatedly down the years.

Meanwhile, Thomas Pieters and Eddie Pepperell pressed their Ryder Cup claims in style as two-time major champion John Daly rolled back the years in the D+D Real Czech Masters. Playing alongside vice-captain Pádraig Harrington, Pieters carded a flawless 64 at Albatross Golf Resort to share the first-round lead on eight under par with Daly, England’s Callum Tarren and Malaysia’s Gavin Green.

Pepperell, who needs to win in Prague to have a chance of moving into the final automatic qualifying place for Thomas Bjorn’s European team, was just two shots off the pace after firing seven birdies and a solitary bogey in his 66. Harrington matched his younger counterpart with a 66 also, which included four consecutive birdies from the 10th.

While Pieters definitely has to rely upon a wild card, Pepperell can force his way into the automatic places with a second win of the season

Daly won the 1991 US PGA and 1995 Open Championship, but the 52-year-old sponsor’s invite is currently ranked 1,430th in the world after an injury-plagued season.

It’s been one of those years where I’ve been hitting it really good, I’ve just been injured and having to pull out,” said Daly.

“I don’t feel great, but I got around today and I just played solid. Every time you get a chance to hit something in there close, it really makes you feel good.

“It was a very comfortable swinging round today and, if I can do that every day, the injuries don’t tend to hurt as much.”