Woods finds inspiration in Mickelson's win at Pebble Beach

Tiger Woods kept a close eye on Phil Mickelson's win at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am over the weekend in hopes of replicating his old friend's success.

"My entire career, Phil will probably attest to this, we've always looked at the board to figure where one another's at," Woods told ESPN's Bob Harig on Wednesday. "So, we've always had that type of enjoyment of competing against one another. And to see what he's done or to see what he did last year in Mexico at 47 years old gave me confidence that I could somehow do it, maybe last year. And I was able to finally end my season just like he did with a win."

Mickelson claimed his 44th career win with a three-stroke victory over Paul Casey, and while Woods remains the more accomplished golfer, he hopes to emulate Lefty's success as he gets older.

"He's just been so consistent, and that's the hardest thing to do. Each and every one of us have enough talent to have little hot runs out here, but to sustain it for two decades like he has."

Woods made a triumphant return to the Tour last season and completed his comeback with his 80th career win at the Tour Championship. Mickelson won once last year as well, taking the title at the WGC-Mexico Championship, but he also owns bragging rights over Woods for winning The Match in November.

The pair are part of a stacked field that will compete at the Genesis Open this weekend at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles.