When Big Phil met the Big Silence: how Masters love affair cooled

The sun was out on opening day at Augusta, and you could catch the reflection bouncing off Phil Mickelson's big old grin as he walked on to the first tee from the next county.

- Andy Bull

The sun was out on opening day at Augusta, and you could catch the reflection bouncing off Phil Mickelson's big old grin as he walked on to the first tee from the next county. At 54, the American's smile seems to be the one bit of his game that's still in good trim. He cuts an odd figure around the grounds these days, in his aviator shades and LIV-branded kit. Mickelson is a six-time major champion, and three-time Masters winner, and by any measure one of the very best to ever do it. He ought to be one of the most popular men here but it can feel hard to find anyone in the clubhouse who has two kind words about him to rub together.

"I don't know what level Phil is competing at," said Jack Nicklaus in his morning press conference. "I guess he's still playing. He's playing the LIV Tour, is he? I don't know if he's playing or not. I don't know. You never see that any more." Nicklaus is 85 now, and while he knows damn well which tour Mickelson is on these days, he evidently doesn't want to spend any of the time he has left watching him play on it. "You know, Phil has been a good player, there's no question about that," Nicklaus offered. "He has been competitive in an odd event here and there but not really in the last few years." Ouch.