NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Tiger Woods has just about everything he needs to be one of the world's most popular athletes except a rival.

It's possible that the recent success of Phil Mickelson is finally giving Woods just that. And that's great news for the game of golf and the broadcasters who air the big tournaments. Although golf fans will probably have to wait until next month's British Open to see Phil and Tiger possibly go head-to-head for a major championship.

Phil Mickelson's recent success could be just what Tiger Woods, and golf, needs.

Woods recent success isn't drawing the viewers as did his early wins. A great rival could restore some of the missing drama.

NBC Sports officials are probably ready to drown themselves in a water hazard after Tiger shot his second straight round of 76 in the U.S. Open on Friday, making it likely he will miss the cut in a major for the first time since he turned pro. NBC had been counting on Tiger winning, or at least contending for another major on Father's Day, in the first tournament he's played since the death of his father Earl Woods on May 3.

But if Mickelson continues to develop as a legitimate rival for Woods, NBC and other broadcasters will eventually benefit.

Mickelson heads into the U.S. Open this weekend having won the last two majors, this year's Masters and last year's PGA Championship. That's a long way from Woods' accomplishment of winning four majors in a row back in 2000 and 2001, but a win this weekend would quickly catapult him into contention for that unique accomplishment. Despite a rough start on Friday, Mickelson was still near the top of the leaderboard early Friday afternoon.

Woods' success and popularity has been an important boost for golf as a spectator sport. But only 7 percent of sports fans overall pick it as their favorite, and only 15 percent name it as one of their favorite sports, according to a survey of fans by Marketing Evaluations. While that's up from the 5 percent who said golf was their favorite and 11 percent who listed it as one of their favorites in the pre-Tiger era, it still leaves the sport behind others, including tennis and even the much maligned hockey.

Experts in sports marketing say that a great rivalry could be a key to lifting the game's popularity to the next level in terms of fan interest.

"Rivalries are part of what get people to watch," said Marc Ganis, president of sports marketing firm SportsCorp. "Yes, they get interested because of individual greatness and ratings will go up if it's just Tiger doing well. But we've had many examples of a sport being elevated by great rivalries, especially in individual sports."

Mickelson has been steadily gaining in fan support and recognition, even if he has a ways to go to catch Tiger. Marketing Evaluations, which compiles the "Q scores" advertisers rely on to choose endorsers, found that Mickelson is known by 54 percent of sports fans, up from 44 percent in a 2002 survey, and that 23 percent of them have a positive view of him, up from 15 percent in 2002.

Woods' recognition and popularity is little changed in recent years, with 88 percent of fans knowing him, and 40 percent having a positive view of him.

If it had been the other way around, and Woods had been contending and Mickelson going home on Friday, it would have been enough to give NBC good ratings even if Woods rebounds to beat some lesser known golfers on Sunday. The story of him winning on Father's Day, in the first match he's played since the death of his father, would have been compelling television, no matter the match-up.

"From what's going on with Tiger and Phil, the obvious drama that could unfold on Sunday with Tiger on Father's Day...it's just the greatest potential script that we have going into any U.S. Open that I've been involved with," said Dan Hicks, the host of NBC's coverage, in a call with reporters earlier this week.

Even if Mickelson wins his third straight major Sunday, ratings probably won't be great without Tiger in the mix on Sunday. Mickelson's two wins in the Masters have drawn only 7.3 percent of households in 2004 and 8.4 percent earlier this year, and the Open doesn't generally match the ratings of the Masters.

By comparison, Woods has never drawn less than 9.2 percent of households when he's won at Augusta. His first win in 1997 was watched by 14.1 percent of households. But Woods winning now no longer gets those huge ratings. A compelling rivalry could restore some of the drama missing since those earlier wins.

Great rivalries usually translate into great ratings. For example, when the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins met on Monday Night Football in 2004, it produced the best ratings for a Monday night game that season, even though neither team was heading for the playoffs that season.

Similarly, when the Yankees and Red Sox hooked up in the American League Championship Series in 2003 and again in 2004, it drew an average of 10.7 percent and 11.7 percent of households respectively. Last year, when two teams also from large television markets, the Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Angels, met in the ALCS, the average rating plunged to 6.5 percent.

For a great rivalry to develop will require more than Mickelson winning a bunch more majors, though. Mickelson and Woods have yet to lock up in a Sunday duel with both of them having a shot to win a major. Having the two of them take turns winning majors, on weekends when the other isn't playing their 'A' game, does not a rivalry make.

"They need to be going head to head on Sunday, and be doing that repeatedly," said Ganis. He said even if that had happened this weekend, it would not have been enough.

"It needs more than one," Ganis said. "But you start with one and you go from there."

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