The Parallels Between Tiger's Augusta Run and Phil's British Run

It's interesting to think that this year, two of the biggest names in golf had a chance at come-from-behind majors. That is, Tiger Woods at the 2011 Masters and Phil at last week's British. But how close were they to being identical? Let's take a look.

The first picture will be Tiger's scorecard from that Sunday at Augusta. Look at what he did. Tiger started the day seven shots back of Rory McIlroy (Phil started five shots back of Darren Clarke, meaning both were trailing a Nothern Irishman before the day kicked off).

Look at that scorecard.


Now, look at Phil's scorecard from Sunday at Royal St. George's. Looks pretty similar, doesn't it?


Here are some of the facts ...

- They both shot five-under on the front nine.
- They both made birdies on the par-3 6th holes.
- The crescendo of their play came on a par-5, that had them both rolling putts for eagle that were highlighted by huge fist pumps and tied for the lead in the championships.

Now, it gets even more interesting. Both had short putts missed (Tiger on 12 at Augusta, Phil on 11 at St. George's) that killed their momentum, but for both of them, the real momentum shift came on the 13th hole for both. If you remember, Tiger failed to make birdie on the par-5 at the Masters for the first time in two years, while Mickelson's bogey unraveled his round.

Final tally for both golfers? Tiger finished four shots back of eventual champion Charl Schwartzel, while Phil finished three back of Clarke. Tiger ended with a 67, while Phil ended with a 68.

While it's no Lincoln-Kennedy, it is strange how alike those rounds looked, and how they came on the same day.