LOS ANGELES • Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson will go head-to-head in a winner-takes-all US$9 million (S$12.3 million) duel in Las Vegas in November, it was announced on Wednesday.

Woods and Mickelson, who have 19 Major titles between them, will face off at the Shadow Creek Golf Course on Nov 23, coinciding with Thanksgiving weekend.

The match-play duel between the two veterans, a head-to-head meeting that has been mooted repeatedly over the years, will be screened on pay-per-view.

"It's on," Woods, a 79-time winner on the PGA Tour, tweeted with a promotional photo for the event being dubbed "The Match".

Mickelson, who finally joined Twitter that morning, acknowledged the announcement with a reply: "I bet you think this is the easiest $9M you will ever make."

The back-and-forth continued as former world No. 1 Woods said: "Think you will earn some bragging right?" before Mickelson said "Let's do this".

Both men had an occasionally frosty relationship during their prime years at the summit of men's golf but have enjoyed warmer ties recently after working closely during various Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup campaigns.

"It's an opportunity for us to bring golf to the masses in prime time during a period where we don't have much going on in the world of golf," Mickelson told ESPN on Wednesday.

"It's a way to show a side you don't normally see by having us miked up to hear some of the interaction between us."

He said there was no chance of the duo carving up the lucrative purse between them, insisting the event would be winner-takes-all.

"If you (don't) do that, it undermines it," he said. "The whole point is the winner-takes-all thing. That's the exciting part about it."

Woods returned to golf only this year after missing most of the previous two owing to recurring back problems.

The 42-year-old bagged second place at the PGA Championship earlier this month while 48-year-old Mickelson missed the cut.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS