"Gee Nick, I didn't realise that you are such a big guy. How come you used to hit it so short?"

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John Huggan examines the Phil-Tiger relationship and shares several juicy anecdotes. Two of my favorites:

Then again, Mickelson is hardly devoid of a sense of humour. Less than two weeks ago at the traditional Tuesday evening Champion's Dinner, he got stuck into, of all people, Nick Faldo. Standing next to the six-time major winner for the official photograph, the present world number two didn't miss the past number one. The trash-talking conversation went something like this:

Phil (loud enough for everyone to hear): "Gee Nick, I didn't realise that you are such a big guy. How come you used to hit it so short?"

Faldo: "Listen Phil, when you shoot 19 under par to win the Open at St Andrews you can start giving me a hard time."

Phil: "I understand that. But how come you hit it like such a pussy?"

Faldo: "I played golf the proper way."

Phil: "Yeah, like my wife."

And...

Still, even when Phil and wife Amy sent the Woods family a present to celebrate the birth of daughter Sam, there was an edge to the gesture. The miniature ping-pong table was a not-so-subtle reference to the fact that, at every Ryder Cup, Lefty is too good for his teammate when it comes to table tennis. (Rumour has it that Tiger has searched out expert coaching in order to rectify that situation next time round).

"Did Woods try to accomplish too much, too soon? Has he simply changed?"

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Jaime Diaz's engaging, must-read look at Tiger Woods' Masters week raises all sorts of fascinating questions.

So the speculation will begin again. For all the great wins since he began working with Haney in 2004, have the swing changes been the right ones? Is the relationship with Haney in jeopardy? Is there lasting damage in the left knee? Did Woods try to accomplish too much, too soon? Has he simply changed?

Diaz goes on to detail all of the key moments from the week, highlighted by Friday's driving range session:

Steaming, he marched to the range and immediately—and uncharacterically—began pounding drivers. Williams, reading the moment, got away. Haney, who stayed to face the heat, got an earful. Woods eventually cooled off, had a long exchange with Haney and gave the fans who applauded his longer than usual hour-long session a grateful, if clearly discouraged, wave.

Ultimately, it still sounds like for all of the analysis and swing struggles, some perspective is in order. Tiger was off for eight months and simply hasn't played enough tournament golf to be sharp. Diaz doesn't quite go so far as to say it, but based on this next bit, you have to wonder if Haney has pointed out to Tiger that as miraculous as Torrey Pines was, even Tiger needs to play more competitive rounds to work off the rust and to give majors a little less high-pressure urgency.

Though they are words sure to make Haney wince, he took a bullet for his player. "Tiger worked as hard as humanly possible to come back for the Masters," said the swing instructor after the dust had settled Monday morning. "Maybe a little more tournament play would have helped, but he did everything he could. There were a lot of things that you can point to in his not winning, but all it does is point out how hard it is to win major championships."

Especially when they've become all that really matter.

Tiger Deserves 4.9 Million Shares In NBC/Universal For Single Handedly Saving Them Sunday

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Not that those shares would get his attention, but hey, it's a gesture for making the putt and averting a disastrous Monday playoff.

From the PR folks at NBC/Universal/GE/Sheinhardt Wigs (that's for all 3 of you fellow 30 Rock watchers).

Woods Sixth Title at Bay Hill Scores Highest Event Rating in 7 Years & 23% Increase Over Last Year

NEW YORK – March 30, 2009 - NBC Sports' final round coverage of the Arnold Palmer Invitational yesterday (2:30-8 p.m. ET), which stretched into primetime, earned the best overnight rating for a golf event since the 2008 U.S. Open and the highest for any PGA TOUR event (excludes major championships) in more than two years (Jan. 28, 2007, Buick Invitational) according to Nielsen Media Research. The 4.9 overnight rating and 10 share was the best for the final round of Bay Hill in seven years (2002 - 5.7/11, Woods victory) and an increase of 23 percent over last year (4.0/9) which Woods also won with a birdie putt on the final hole.

The rating peaked at a 7.8/13 from 7:30-8 p.m. ET as Tiger Woods secured the one-shot victory with a birdie putt on the 18th hole as the sun was setting, his sixth Bay Hill title and first since last year’s historic U.S. Open victory.

The Bay Hill rating outperformed two of last year’s major championships: 48 percent higher than the final round of the British Open (3.3) and 75 percent greater than the final round of the PGA Championship (2.8).

Saturday’s third round coverage on NBC delivered a 2.7/6, 17% higher than last year (2.3/6).

Top metered markets for Sunday’s final round coverage of the Arnold Palmer Invitational on NBC are as follows:
1. Fort Myers, 11.6/20
2. Orlando, 10.6/20
3. West Palm Beach, 8.8/15
4. Tampa, 7.6/15
5. Providence, 7.4/12
6. Buffalo, 7.1/13
7 Milwaukee, 6.9/13
T8. Minneapolis, 6.4/14
T8. Baltimore, 6.4/11
10. Cleveland, 6.1/11