Phil Mickelson turns back time at Augusta, has 'sense of gratitude' for Masters

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Phil Mickelson has made the walk to Augusta National’s stately clubhouse 114 times in his Masters career, with three of those climbs on his way to an appointment in Butler Cabin and a green jacket. None of them appeared to have been as rewarding as Sunday’s stroll.

Waiting for Lefty as he neared the iconic clubhouse on Sunday was his longtime manager, Steve Loy. When Mickelson won the 2021 PGA Championship, Loy, colloquially known as “Coach” in golf circles, was at the center of the celebration – smiling, hugging and generally savoring the moment.

Full-field scores from the 87th Masters Tournament

But as Mickelson approached the clubhouse it was tears, not joy or even defiance, that Loy offered. The victory at Kiawah, which made Lefty the oldest major champion, was unexpected. In fact, considering that Lefty hadn’t posted a top-10 finish on the PGA Tour in the previous eight months and was nearly a half-decade removed from his last top-10 in a major, some might say the victory was as impressive as any in a World Golf Hall of Fame career.

That threshold was surpassed Sunday as Mickelson defied the odds, age and, arguably, the worst year of his professional career, to finish tied for second at the Masters.

It’s impossible to plumb the depths of Lefty’s past 14 months. Last February, as rumors swirled that Mickelson was bound for the breakaway LIV Golf league, a story posted on the Fire Pit Collective website quoted him being critical of both the Saudis, who own 93 percent of LIV, and the Tour. Mickelson later said those comments were off the record and taken out of context, but the damage was done.

A self-imposed exile followed that included skipping the Masters, the place that has always seemed to bring out the best in Mickelson. When he finally re-emerged, it was as a member of LIV Golf and he was quickly labeled the front man in the most controversial band golf has ever seen. He was dragged in both social and traditional media outlets and even his colleagues were no longer interested in adhering to the niceties that govern professional golf, with Fred Couples calling him a “nutbag.”

He lost weight – a lot of weight – and became noticeably reserved. The normally outspoken and engaging player was now guarded in press conferences and withdrawn. Tuesday at Augusta National, he deflected questions on what many, including emcee Ben Crenshaw, said would be an awkward Champions Dinner with Tour loyalist and LIV players mixing with little supervision.

“Phil sat near the end of the table and kept to himself. He didn’t speak at all,” Fuzzy Zoeller told the Augusta Chronicle after the dinner.

Maybe Mickelson didn’t have anything to say, or he was simply avoiding the obvious, but his post-round interviews were just as aloof. What changed, however, is that for the first time since Kiawah in ’21 his game looked like Lefty. He opened with a 71 on a day when the scoring average was a half-stroke over par and followed with a 69 to make the cut when so many of the game’s stars, including Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas, were headed home.

Saturday’s storm took a toll on the 52-year-old and he struggled to a 75 that left him 10 shots off the lead and teeing off an hour and a half before the final group. Lefty hadn’t closed with an under-par round at the Masters since 2018, but after turning in 2 under he posted a quintessential second nine with birdies at Nos. 12, 13, 15, 16 and 17 for his best finish, on either the PGA Tour or LIV Golf, since his victory at Kiawah.

The emotion of the moment was born from both the validation and vindication of the accomplishment. It was validation that after so many months of pedestrian play, he proved he still has something left in the competitive tank, and vindication for those who so easily and effortlessly made him the villain in the PGA Tour-LIV Golf divide.

“Look what’s going on,” was all Loy offered when asked why he was so emotional.

Some LIV players entered Sunday vying for world ranking points, others a top-12 finish that came with a coveted invitation back to next year’s Masters. Neither interested Mickelson. His spot in the champion’s locker room is unassailable. What the closing 65 did was nothing short of restorative.

“I think he's been through a lot. I'd be pretty emotional, too. I think he's done a lot in this last year. His life's been turned upside down, some his fault, some not, and I don't know what he's really been through, but from the outside looking in, I'd be pretty emotional as well,” said fellow LIV member Harold Varner III, who played multiple practice rounds with Mickelson this week.

Phil's runner-up 'encouraging for me going forward'

Stoic to the very end, Lefty dismissed most questions about the emotions of his runner-up finish or the enormity of the accomplishment after such a tumultuous year other than a mildly passive-aggressive take on how Augusta National “rose above it all” to invite all the past champions regardless of what tour they play.

Instead, he played the old hits about how Augusta National and the year’s first major energize him.

“When you come here to Augusta, you end up having a sense of gratitude. It's hard not to, right? This is what we strive for. There's kind of a calm that comes over you; the fact that we get to play and compete in this Masters, and I think we've all been very appreciative of that,” Mickelson said.

This isn’t going to wash Lefty clean of his sins, be they real or otherwise, or reestablish his place in the game. For some, his decision to cash in with LIV Golf was an unforgivable betrayal. What it did is prove that even after a year of being dragged by former friends and foes, after a self-imposed exile and awful play, he can still rekindle the magic that once made him one of the most entertaining and misunderstood stars in the game.