Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson Chase Rory McIlroy at 2012 WGC Cadillac Championship

After an exciting finish in last week’s Honda Classic, the rivalry between Tiger Woods and new world No.1 Rory McIlroy takes center stage once again at the 2012 WGC Cadillac Championship, but with a new element added to the mix.

Phil Mickelson is coming off a nice family vacation following his win at the 2012 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and his second place finish at the Northern Trust Open 2012 in Riviera. His win at Pebble Beach marked the 40^th PGA victory of his stellar career, and there’s still a lot of golf left to be played.

This event is scheduled to tee off Thursday March 8 thru Sunday March 11^th live from the TPC Blue Monster Course in Doral, Florida. Television coverage for all four rounds of the 2012 WGC Cadillac Championship will be broadcasted on Golf Channel and NBC Sports.

The Blue Monster at Doral is a par-72 course that measures 7,334 yards of world-class golf. According to McIlroy, that will be his toughest opponent this week, not Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson.

“To be honest in golf, you can have a rival if you want, but at the end of the day, your biggest rival is a golf course,” said the 22-year-old from Northern Ireland after his victory at the Honda. “You have to be able to beat the golf course more often than not and that’s all you are trying to do.

“Ultimately you’re going to have to beat people coming down the stretch on Sundays… whether it is Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson or Lee Westwood, Luke Donald or Martin Kaymer, or whoever, I would never really want to say that I am in a rivalry with someone.”

Although all three players will likely do their best to downplay the obvious comparisons — especially Tiger and Rory — and rivalry talks, there’s just no way that Tiger and Phil aren’t reluctant to pass the torch, so to speak, and let the new generation like McIlroy, pass them by.

“I just want to go out there and play good golf and solid golf and if I can do that then people can make up the rivalries themselves,” McIlroy added. “But I don’t see myself as anyone’s rival out here — I just see myself as Rory McIlroy trying to play good golf and winning tournaments.”

We will certainly be keeping a close eye on the progress each one of these guys make on the leaderboards throughout the weekend. To help you do so as well, we are the notable tee times and pairings for the opening two rounds of the 2012 WGC Cadillac Championship:

Phil Mickelson Tee Times & Pairings (1^st & 2^nd Rounds):

• Thomas Bjorn: 11:20 AM & 12:20 PM
• Nicolas Colsaerts: 11:20 AM & 12:20 PM
• Ben Crane: 11:20 AM & 12:20 PM
• Hunter Mahan: 11:20 AM & 12:20 PM
• Phil Mickelson: 11:20 AM & 12:20 PM
• Adam Scott: 11:20 AM & 12:20 PM

Rory McIlroy Tee Times & Pairings (1^st & 2^nd Rounds):

• Aaron Baddeley: 11:50 AM & 12:50 PM
• Jonathan Byrd: 11:50 AM & 12:50 PM
• Luke Donald: 11:50 AM & 12:50 PM
• Rory McIlroy: 11:50 AM & 12:50 PM
• Louis Oosthuizen: 11:50 AM & 12:50 PM
• Lee Westwood: 11:50 AM & 12:50 PM

Tiger Woods Tee Tinmes & Pairings (1^st & 2^nd Rounds):

• Jason Dufner: 12:40 PM & 11:30 AM
• Sergio Garcia: 12:40 PM & 11:30 AM
• Miguel Angel Jimenez: 12:40 PM & 11:30 AM
• Hennie Otto: 12:40 PM & 11:30 AM
• Nick Watney (defending champ): 12:40 PM & 11:30 AM
• Tiger Woods: 12:40 PM & 11:30 AM