When Phil Mickelson revealed whether he and Tiger Woods are as influential as Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson were once two of the most prominent stars in the game of golf. The 2000s and early 2010s saw dominance from both as they cemented their status as historic players.

They marked an era of golf that has since passed, but when they were in their era, the time of Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer had passed. In April 2009, during the height of their dominance, Mickelson was asked a lot about Woods.

He was first asked why it didn't seem like he and Woods were as friendly as Nicklaus and Palmer had been. He responded without necessarily denying the implication via Golf Digest:

"What's interesting to me is that there are so many articles in the media about how we don't get along. As far as I'm concerned, we get along fine, especially when we're together."

He said he and Woods are often not together unless they're in the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, but otherwise, there's no reason to be that close with his competitor.

As for the duo of Woods and Mickelson being as influential to golf as Palmer and Nicklaus were, the left-handed golfer balked. He said that the sentiment might be overlooking what Greg Norman and Jack Price did:

"Oh, I don't know about that. It might be partly the case today, but that doesn't mean it will be the case tomorrow. And I don't know how many days or months or years tomorrow is. But other people will come along. You mentioned Jack and Arnold. I remember when I first came out on tour, it was Greg Norman and Nick Price."

Norman would go on to one day be the CEO of LIV Golf, the rebel tour that Mickelson was one of the first to join. Mickelson stated his belief that Norman was very influential in golf. He closed by saying in terms of influence, there's always someone else to change the game.

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Phil Mickelson once discussed his role on the PGA Tour

Since that interview, Phil Mickelson would (about 13 years later) leave the PGA Tour to join LIV Golf. He cited many reasons for his exit, but one was that he didn't like how the Tour operated.

Phil Mickelson once revealed his take on how the Tour operates (Image via Getty)

In 2009, in that interview, Phil Mickelson's opinions on that became a little more clear. He said via Golf Digest:

"I think the Tour talks to Tiger. That's a critical element, and he should be consulted. But if people assume that, before anything goes down, the tour talks to me about my opinion, that's not correct. On the other hand, I believe no one player should have input on the operations of the tour."

He ultimately believed then that no player, not even Woods or himself, should have that much say in how the Tour operates. Now, he has said in his exit that he wishes that the Tour would've listened and given more leverage to the players themselves as a whole, but he never wanted one man to have all the power.