AKRON, Ohio -- Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson played a nine-hole practice round at Firestone Country Club on Wednesday, and while it is unclear whether they discussed their proposed $10 million 18-hole match, the exhibition is moving toward being finalized.
Woods' agent, Mark Steinberg, said that "we are closer than we have been'' to working out the details and that he expected it to occur "this year,'' with the location and date still to be determined.
Golf.com reported last month that the two sides were in negotiations for a "winner-take-all'' match in which Mickelson said, "It's a ridiculous amount of money. No matter how much money you have, this amount will take both of us out of our comfort zone.''
Woods, 42, and Mickelson, 48, are competing in this week's WGC-Bridgestone Invitational that begins Thursday at Firestone.
They have had a long rivalry that dates back to their junior golf days in Southern California. At times, their relationship has been strained, although it has softened in recent years as both players became heavily involved in the U.S. Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup efforts.
Both make up the U.S. Ryder Cup committee along with 2018 captain Jim Furyk; Woods is a vice captain for Furyk and in contention for one of the four at-large picks. Mickelson is 10th in the team standings, with the top eight qualifying after next week's PGA Championship. This would be Mickelson's 12th consecutive U.S. Ryder Cup team.
The Ryder Cup is Sept. 28-30, and any match that takes place between Woods and Mickelson would not occur prior to then.