AUGUSTA, Ga. — An odd thing happened Thursday when Phil Mickelson began his first competitive round at Augusta National in 725 days. As he walked forward, everyone else stayed behind. On the occasion of his 30th career appearance in the Masters, Mickelson, once one of the single-most popular players to ever walk these grounds, was not followed by migrating packs of fans. If you wanted to see Lefty take a swing, you could simply stroll up to the rope line and watch him. Like picking out fruit in the grocery store.
Mickelson skipped this event last year, a decision made in light of molten-hot tension surrounding his woefully mishandled dalliance with LIV Golf. The decision, at that time in particular, underlined just how intense hostilities had grown. It was previously unthinkable for anyone to skip the Masters, let alone someone so beloved as Mickelson, let alone a three-time past champion.
But Mickelson did it.
And now he’s back.
And wouldn’t you know, Augusta got the Full Phil. Sort of.
On the front nine, the 52-year-old hit his driver off three different surfaces: tees, a patch of pine straw and a fairway lie. He pulled off a preposterous birdie on No. 2; nearly hit the flagstick on No. 4; shared a hug and kiss with his wife, Amy, on the walk from No. 7 to 8; and missed an…
