This year’s Masters Tournament is expected by most to be extremely awkward due to the presence of the LIV Golf players. For the most part, things have gone smoothly so far, except for some unusual behavior from the ever-polarizing Phil Mickelson.
Mickelson took part in the annual Masters’ Champions Dinner on Tuesday night where all the past champions of the event meet up and celebrate their claim to fame. However, Mickelson reportedly did not seem to be in a celebratory mood at the dinner.
Fuzzy Zoeller and Tommy Aaron, two past champions of the event discussed Mickelson’s demeanor during the dinner, saying that he “didn’t speak” during the whole dinner.
“We’re just 33 past champions in a room, all trying to get along,” Zoeller told Golfweek.com on Wednesday. “Nobody said a word about it. Phil sat near the end of the table and kept to himself. He didn’t speak at all.”
Former Masters champion Fred Couples recently blasted LIV for signing Mickelson, calling him a “nutbag” and saying that he didn’t deserve the money that he got.
However, Tommy Aaron detailed that Couples and the rest of the champions were cordial towards the LIV players on Tuesday night.
“Couples spoke a lot but didn’t mention LIV at all,” Aaron said. “I sat next to Freddie, and he and Ray Floyd kept trying to figure out how many champions had come out of the final group.”
Most fans had a feeling this dinner could be awkward and reacted to this strange behavior regarding Phil Mickelson accordingly.
Petty Phil
https://t.co/5fBTOJTRBt — OlutosinFashusi (@OlutosinFashusi) April 5, 2023
https://twitter.com/RobSlater10/status/1643637871608201217
Mickelson notably opted not to play in last year’s Masters due to the backlash surrounding his controversial comments on the Saudi Arabian government before joining LIV. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like he is much more comfortable at Augusta this time around.
[Golfweek]
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.