LIV Golfer Phil Mickelson shares HILARIOUS story of ‘sign-stealing’ at Augusta National during The Masters
LIV Golfer Phil Mickelson has opened up about how he stole the sign board from the Augusta National to continue his special practice drill which led to the 2004 Masters glory.
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Phil Mickelson (Image credit: Imago)
In the past few weeks, the name of Phil Mickelson has echoed around the golfing community. The 53-year-old has once again become the center of attention due to his gambling addictions. While stories of him placing bets on several sports on various occasions have shown up, he shared an interesting yet strange story on his Twitter (X) account.
Mickelson has been highly active on social media. The “Lefty” has had several interactions with users on the micro-blogging site. He has now opened up about how he stole signs during the early stages of his career. The LIV Golf star spoke about his 2004 Masters triumph and how he managed to pick up the victory at the famous Augusta National with the help of a special training drill.
Mickelson had started to establish himself as one of the toughest competitors out there. While he had claimed some PGA Tour wins, he had never tasted major success. This led to him being under the shadows of Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, and Ernie Els, some of the big names of that generation.
In the story shared by Mickelson, he starts off by recalling how he and Dave Pelz started working on a towel drill. In this training regime, the duo would place towels at a certain distance on the range and practice hitting the shots. The current HyFlyers captain would continue this practice which eventually helped him out big time, leading to several championship wins later on.
Will Phil Mickelson be punished for this incident?
Phil Mickelson is stated to go down as one of the greatest players of this generation. There will be several stories regarding him in future conversations. His admission of stealing signs at the Augusta National will also be one of them. He was in shock in 2005 when he returned to the course to see a new signboard that prohibited players from practicing long-range shots.
“After the Champions Dinner, I let all the Champions leave first, and I go down the Magnolia Lane,” Mickelson said. He added how he literally crawled down the magnolias and took the sign-off. “I take the sign and I wiggle and I wiggle and I lift and I yank it out and I throw it in the back of the SUV,” he added. Due to his antics that day, there was no such sign stopping him and he practiced his towel drill. He would repeat this action in 2006 but was caught by the cameras this time around.
Mickelson would end his story by claiming “he is not a betting man,” referring to the recent allegations against him. He would though show off the signs of his theft by showing the board in his hand at the end of the video. This was done by him to signal that the story is actually a “true story“.
The main question that now comes up in the minds of the fans is whether he will be punished for this. The PGA Tour has not issued any statement regarding the matter and is likely not to take any action against the six-time major champion despite the calls for it from some players and fans.
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