Tiger is Out. Phil is In.

For one moment sports fans, let us ignore the hate-hate relationship between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, and also the fact that Mickelson is known to make large wagers on golf and in the stock market as he was most recently spotted on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange sniffing around for bargains with a CNBC camera crew following his every move. The recent collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac must have given Phil a sinking feeling of wealth and not puts. Should this be Phil's year to emerge, as Tiger Woods is absent from the tour?

Tiger began the season with a victory at the Buick Invitational by eight strokes! It certainly looked as if we were going to endure another year dominated by Tiger wins and accolades. What happened? On Sunday, June 15th, Tiger Woods won the 2008 U.S. Open while wincing after tee shots and literally keeping his weight off his left foot for the duration of the event. He was paired with Rocco Mediate and battled into a tie-break scenario. After Rocco was beaten he humbly acknowledged that Tiger beat everyone on the field that event on one leg!.

Two days after the Open, Tiger announced he was going to have surgery on his injured foot. The doctors called it reconstructive anterior cruciate ligament surgery. The bad leg has not affected his game on and off the course as Tiger's people speculate that he is preparing to dominate once the injury heals properly. Phil's year has been successful racking, up 4.7 million, but has not been Tigeresque.