US duo unlikely to re-unite

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson could be back together playing for America eight weeks from now. They could be - but don't bet on it. The two-man World Cup is being held at Seville in Spain on November 18th-21st.

First prize is over £500,000 per player and many of the game's leading lights will be there. Yet it is almost certain Woods and Mickelson, having flopped in the Ryder Cup, will not be taking up the opportunity to show a doubting public that, firstly, they get on, and secondly they can perform in each other's company.

The ball is in Woods's court. Based on this week's world rankings, the 18 leading players from different countries qualify for the tournament. They have until October 1st - Friday week - to declare their availability, otherwise it passes to the next player.

Although he has lost his world number spot to Vijay Singh, Woods is still the top American and, under the rules of the competition, he can select his partner if he chooses to play. The only proviso is that the second player has to be in the world's top 100.

Masters champion Mickelson is fourth and would therefore be the strongest partner available to Woods. However, unlike most other sports, the World Cup is not a "must-play" event for superstars any more.

The World Cup, held annually, was at Kiawah Island in South Carolina last November. They did not even have to leave their own shores, but Woods and Mickelson both opted out. The US were represented by Jim Furyk and Justin Leonard who finished joint fifth with Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley.

Singh was not there, so Fiji were not there, and South Africa was represented not by Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, but by Rory Sabbatini and Trevor Immelman, who, after two days of fourballs and foursomes, beat England's Paul Casey and Justin Rose by four.

Casey and Luke Donald never got to play together at Oakland Hills at the weekend, but their successful Walker Cup partnership from Nairn in 1999 could be revived in Seville, given they are now the two leading Englishmen in the rankings.

Harrington qualifies again as well, of course, and as Darren Clarke has not played since 1996 the partnership with McGinley can be expected to go on. They were winners seven years ago and have not been split since.

If everybody responds positively, Scotland would squeeze in as the 18th eligible nation thanks to Colin Montgomerie's 65th place in the world rankings. But Montgomerie has not appeared in the event since 1999 and it remains to be seen if he commits. If not, Scotland may have to enter the qualifying tournament because their next highest player on the rankings is Scott Drummond at 115th.

Phillip Price will be waiting to see what withdrawals there are. His 79th place in the world makes Wales the 21st nation in line.

The Woods-Mickelson partnership dominated headlines going into Oakland because five other captains in Ryder or Presidents Cup competition - Tom Kite, Ben Crenshaw, Curtis Strange, Ken Venturi and Jack Nicklaus (twice) - had kept them apart.

"The fans want it, history needs it and, most importantly, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson need it," was this year's American captain Hal Sutton's message on the eve of the event. Although it was his plan right from the day he took on the captaincy two years earlier, he did not have them practising a single hole together. They were not even on the same course last Thursday, Mickelson taking himself off somewhere else to practice with Woods's ball so he could do a crash course on how far he hit it.

Whoever takes over from Sutton - the favourite is Woods's close friend Mark O'Meara - is unlikely to try the same experiment. And nor are we likely to see it at the Presidents Cup. Or November's World Cup.

Mickelson meanwhile has decided not to play the HSBC world match play championship at Wentworth on October 14th-17th - a decision which gives Lee Westwood a shot at the £1million first prize, the biggest in golf.

Woods is another non-starter - he and Mickelson also turned down the event last year - but Singh, will be there along with Open champion Todd Hamilton, defending champion Ernie Els, US Open champion Retief Goosen, Canadian Mike Weir, American Jeff Maggert, South Korean KJ Choi and Westwood.

And three of Europe's Ryder Cup heroes have pulled out of this week 's Heritage tournament at Woburn. Paul McGinley, Thomas Levet and Paul Casey have decided they need a week's rest. Montgomerie, Harrington, Ian Poulter and David Howell are still in the field, however, along with US Open champion Retief Goosen.

Meanwhile, Montgomerie will lead a clutch of his victorious European team-mates into a links championship in Scotland next month, organisers said yesterday.

The 41-year-old will be joined by nine other members of the team which beat the US by a record 18½ to 9½ points at Oakland Hills. The 10 are taking part in the $5 million Dunhill links championship from October 7th-10th.

The championship will also feature Singh and will be played over three of the world's best known links courses - the Old Course at St Andrews, the Championship Course at Carnoustie and Kingsbarns Golf Links.

Montgomerie was found not guilty of speeding yesterday after his lawyer argued there was insufficient evidence to prove he was driving the car. At Staines' Magistrates' Court accepted it could not be proved he was driving a Mercedes CL600 at 96 m.p.h. on the A3 near Esher, Surrey, at 12.50 a.m. on January 6th.