AUGUSTA, Ga. — As Phil Mickelson walked to the first tee — his LIV loyalties prominent on his cap, shirt and bag — he fist-bumped with a young girl hanging along the ropes before acknowledging the familiar cheers that have followed him throughout his career.
“Go Phil!”
“Go get ‘em, Lefty!”
“Attaboy!”
But after Mickelson launched his first shot of the Masters around lunchtime Thursday, a noticeably smaller group of patrons than previous years headed off with him.
Maybe it was because of his lowly place in the world rankings — No. 425, sandwiched between India’s Yuvraj Singh Sandhu and Argentina’s Tano Goya.
Not much to see here.
Just another aging golfer whose best days are behind him.
But this is Phil Mickelson, the People’s Champion, long one of the game’s most popular players and perhaps its biggest draw outside of Tiger Woods.
Given the typically enormous crowd that Woods attracted to his group for the opening round — not bad for a part-time player with a battered body — it’s probably fair to assume some of Lefty’s longtime fans have moved on since he aligned with LIV Golf, the Saudi-backed rebellion against the established PGA Tour.
Mickelson’s decision — even after acknowledging the human rights abuses of the Saudi regime — led to such negative fallout that he skipped the Masters a year ago.
But Mickelson has been followed to LIV by a number of well-known golfers, including major champions Cameron Smith, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson.
With LIV now in its second season, Mickelson felt comfortable enough to return to Augusta, where the three-time winner has a lifetime exemption.
“It’s nice to be back out here,” he said.
Koepka fired the biggest salvo for the new tour with a 7-under 65, which left him tied for the lead with Norway’s Viktor Hovland and Spain’s Jon Rahm.
Imagine the fallout if Koepka takes a green jacket back to his new tour.
“There’s a lot going on,” said Koepka, who is regaining his form after recovering from surgery to repair a shattered kneecap. “I’m just trying to play the best I can play every time I tee it up.”
There were no signs of hostility toward 18 LIV players who qualified for the Masters, either from their competitors or the patrons, who know any unsavory displays would likely lead to a permanent loss of those treasured badges.
