Phil Mickelson logs back on — with lines on LIV, PGA Tour, Rory

He shilled for LIV Golf. 

He saluted Rory McIlroy and plugged the Golf Channel, too. 

And Phil Mickelson did so by clicking ‘tweet.’ 

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This, of course, used to be a regular thing, where the six-time major champ would opine over no more than 280 Twitter characters, then 2022 happened — LIV Golf was formed, they offered guaranteed money to PGA Tour players, the Tour create changes in response, the sides took each other court, and Mickelson became perhaps the biggest face of the Saudi-backed series — and Lefty’s blue bird app went into hibernation. But no more. He’s logged back on. Two weeks ago, he logged on after seeing the Caddie Network’s account post a picture of a gap in the trees on Augusta National’s 13th — and he wrote that, yes, he would hit from there, much like he did in 2010. A week later, he complimented Luke Donald for a play that saw this year’s European Ryder Cup captain chip without a pin. Mickelson was on a roll. 

On Tuesday, the Caddie Network account shared a photo of a young Tiger Woods holding a trophy to the right of what appears to be a tournament official, with this caption: “Torrey Pines has this picture hanging in their coastal San Diego clubhouse. Any idea who it is?” — to which Mickelson replied: “No idea the guy on the right. The guy on the left is “Brownie” I believe John Brown but only ever called him Brownie. He was the godfather of San Diego junior golf and one of the kindest souls who has ever lived.” Later that same day, Mickelson replied to a tweet from the Fore Play golf account about the rough at Torrey Pines.          

Then came the weekend, and the flame was lit and the takes were back. 

On Saturday, during the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open, pro Sam Ryder was wearing purple-ish joggers, and Mickelson had thoughts — “The Tour doesn’t allow shorts but does allow this weeks leader to wear joggers with ankle socks? Showing 4 inches of ankle? I’m no fashion guy, never will be, but there are some things I won’t ever understand.” — and as of Sunday night, the tweet had just over 2,300 comments. Lefty responded to two. To pro and jogger wearer Erik van Rooyen, who had replied with a photo of Mickelson playing in a button dress shirt, Mickelson wrote: “As I stated, never been a fashion guy. “

The second response came after this comment: “How about you just worry about playing those 3 day captain’s choice tournaments and leave the real golf to the PGA.” The reply?

“I agree,” Mickelson wrote. “I’ve already won 45 of those PGA thingies. They were pretty easy. Captains choice tournaments (LIV EVENTS) are much tougher with such stronger fields. I haven’t even won one yet “

There was one other. Two actually. McIlroy, as much the face of the PGA Tour as anyone, was playing his third round of the Dubai Desert Classic third round, and Mickelson thought you should know. 

“What a great -7 3rd round by @McIlroyRory in DUBAI to open up a 3 shot lead,” he wrote. “See if he can finish it off. Watch live final round action from the Middle East on the golf channel.”

And that drew this response:

“​​Last time I checked Phil your career has been loaded with Sunday chokes, especially in majors #wingedfoot”

And that drew this Mickelson response, one minute later:

“I have won 6 though.”

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Nick Piastowski

Golf.com Editor

Nick Piastowski is a Senior Editor at Golf.com and Golf Magazine. In his role, he is responsible for editing, writing and developing stories across the golf space. And when he’s not writing about ways to hit the golf ball farther and straighter, the Milwaukee native is probably playing the game, hitting the ball left, right and short, and drinking a cold beer to wash away his score. You can reach out to him about any of these topics — his stories, his game or his beers — at nick.piastowski@golf.com.

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