Tiger Woods may not believe how much Phil Mickelson appreciates him

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, two of golf’s graybeards, have been trying to beat each other on the PGA Tour for some 21 years, and for many of those two decades many pundits would have termed the relationship between them chilly.

Not so anymore, and Lefty just hopes Tiger believes him when he gushes about how much he values his longtime rival — especially because Woods has put so much cash in Mickelson’s wallet.

“When I came out on tour, in 1992 [four years before Tiger’s “Hello world” moment] the purse was a million dollars, the entire purse, and first place, $180,000,” Mickelson told David Feherty, host of Golf Channel’s program that bears his name, during a session that will air in two parts beginning Monday, March 6.

Mickelson acknowledged that he wondered, in the mid-90s, if tour players would one day “play for a million dollar first-place check. I don’t know, probably not in my lifetime, but I hope we do.

“And here we are, every week, a million-plus first-place check,” Mickelson added, “and that’s due to Tiger.”

Ask anyone in the golf world and no one will dispute that Woods — who inspired an entire generation of today’s budding superstars, put fans in the seats and outside the ropes, and hugely boosted TV revenue and the exposure of tour golf — is almost solely responsible for the hefty paychecks Lefty et al cash after every tourney.

Mickelson noted that the duo’s rapport has improved over the past five or so years as they have participated in Presidents and Ryder Cups as players and assistant coach (Tiger at last year’s Ryder Cup).

“We have really worked well together and I’ve developed a whole new respect for his mind and how detail-oriented he is, especially in this last Ryder Cup,” he said. “He was extremely instrumental in putting every player in a position to succeed.”

Mickelson had more to say about the former world No. 1.

“I’m so appreciative of what he’s done for the game, but in that, he’s done as much for me, or more, than anybody else,” he said. “Because we’re all in this together. We all making our living in golf … We all want to build up this product and nobody built up the game more than he did.”

Whether Woods accepts Mickelson’s accolades as forthright and heartfelt is unknown even to the popular southpaw.

“I’m always been appreciative of him. I’ve told him that many times,” Mickelson said. “I don’t know if he thinks I’m sincere or not because sometimes I can be a bit sarcastic. But I … genuinely feel that.”