After Year of Upheaval, Phil Mickelson Looks For Peace at Augusta National
AUGUSTA, Ga. - If there is any tournament where Phil Mickelson could have a rebound after the tumult of his last year, it’s at the Masters, where he has three wins and 12 other top 10s. When Mickelson first won here in 2004, he said that he was looking forward to coming back to Augusta every year for the rest of his life, but he sat out the ’22 tournament after he made some controversial comments related to LIV Golf and their Saudi Arabian backers.
Making his 30th Masters appearance, a noticeably thinner Mickelson had six birdies, three bogeys and one double bogey for a 1-under-par 71 in Thursday’s first round. The double bogey came at the par-4 520-yard 11th hole, which ranked as the most difficult hole of the day.
“I hit a lot of good shots today and had a chance to shoot a low round,” he said. “I just need to stay a little bit sharper on one or two swings because in major championships the punishment for a mis-hit is so severe. I also didn't shoot myself in the foot. I just need to come out tomorrow with a good round.”
It was difficult to know what to expect from the 52-year-old 45-time PGA Tour winner, who has had no better than a 27th place finish in three appearances this year on the LIV Tour and a missed cut at the Saudi International. At times on Thursday Mickelson displayed some of the creativity and shot-making that has marked his passage around Augusta National. On the par-5 2nd hole, he hit a driver off the pine straw for his second shot that led to a birdie. At the 14th, the left-hander hit a full shot right-handed after his ball ended up against a tree.
“I flipped over an 8-iron,” he said. “I felt like I needed a little bit heel-to-toe height and as much width as I could.”
Mickelson said the shot wasn’t as hard for him as one might think.
“I swing right-handed,” he said. “I think to keep your speed up it's really important to swing the opposite direction because the acceleratory muscles of the opposite direction, or the deceleratory muscles of your normal swing. So I swing right-handed every day like a number of times and try to do that.”
That’s vintage Mickelson in his natural habitat—away from the politics of LIV Golf and the fight with the PGA Tour. The Masters lets him reengage in the world of shot-making and lengthy monologues about shot-making and the nuances of the game. For months, he’s been in defensive mode with the media and the PGA Tour and that tour’s stars, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. When Mickelson opted to ski during last year’s Masters instead of playing in the tournament, it was like a king putting himself in exile with a coup.
There is no doubt that Mickelson is still one of the most popular plays in the game of golf. Despite the fight between LIV and the PGA Tour, which has spurred some bickering between players on the warring tours, Mickelson is still a beloved figure at the Masters.
“I want to see him do well,” said one patron on Thursday. “He’s the guy.”
For most of the last 30 years, Mickelson was the guy. It’s been just two years since he won the ’21 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island, becoming the oldest player to win a major championship. That victory was no fluke. He can still play and he has all the shots that made him a World Golf Hall of Famer. But how does he go about in the fractured golf landscape carrying all the baggage of a broken man and still play great golf?
Over the last year, Mickelson must have felt like the world was piling on him during a very difficult time in his life. If people weren’t talking about his involvement with LIV, they were talking about his weight loss or his gambling. His golf, the gift that made him special since his San Diego childhood, was almost an afterthought in the narrative of his life.
On Thursday afternoon, I asked Mickelson if he was nervous during his first round at the Masters in two years. There was a rumor that during the Champions dinner that he had been quiet and aloof. There were players in that dining room who were incensed by his involvement with LIV Golf.
“Surprisingly, I didn't feel [nervous] because I felt pretty confident with how I was playing and hitting shots,” he told me. “I was actually enjoying it and appreciative of the opportunity to be here. There was a lot of talk a year ago guys wouldn't be able to be here, and I'm very grateful for the opportunity to play and compete here and be a part of it.”
Four years ago, the golf world was reveling in Woods’ victory at the ’19 Masters. A few years earlier that win was unimaginable with all of his injuries. Mickelson doesn’t have crippling injuries to overcome to win this Masters, but he does have to contend with some of his decisions that have overshadowed his golf. A victory for Mickelson at the Masters won’t end the fight between LIV and the PGA Tour, but it could help the world remember why so many people have rooted for him over the years.
Late Thursday afternoon as his wife, Amy, and agent, Steve Loy, waited for him to complete his interviews, Mickelson explained that he could play Augusta National without being perfect. That’s a lesson that he can apply to his own life as he attempts a steep climb back to the top of the sport.