Phil Mickelson has historically been one of the biggest draws at the Masters, but many fans who watched the first round on Thursday were left wondering why they barely got to see any of the six-time major champion.
Mickelson shot a 1-under 71 in Round 1 at Augusta National. He finished the day just six shots back of the lead, which is hardly insurmountable. The 52-year-old has always been given significant air time during majors even when he is not at his best, but that was not the case on Thursday.
Some believe that is because of Mickelson’s association with LIV Golf and the way he was shunned over the remarks he made about Saudi Arabia last year.
One of the reasons Mickelson is (or used to be) so popular is that he plays a unique style of golf and is never afraid to take risks. That typically makes for great television. His round on Thursday was vintage Mickelson in many ways. Mickelson hit a driver off the deck from the woods and even flipped an iron over to hit a shot right-handed. None of it was shown on the ESPN broadcast.
In Phil Mickelson's round today he hit a driver off the deck from the woods on 8, flipped a left handed iron around and hit a full swing RIGHT HANDED shot from the woods on 14, AND hit a full flop shot from behind the green on 17 to make par.
ESPN didn't show any of this.
— LIV Golf Nation (@LIVGolfNation) April 6, 2023
Mickelson also put two balls in the water. Neither shot was shown, so it’s not as if ESPN was simply ignoring his good moments.
Nope, nothing. He hit in water on 11 and 16, hit a shot right-handed(!) on 14 and they didn’t show any of those. Can’t tell me that would have happened pre-you know what.
— Jay Posner (@JayPosnerSD) April 6, 2023
For comparison, Rory McIlroy and Max Homa were shown a ton on ESPN. Like Mickelson, neither was high on the leaderboard. Though, both agreed to be interviewed by ESPN in the middle of their rounds, which is likely why they were given preference. Homa has also broken out this season and is one of golf’s most rapidly rising stars.
It is difficult to speculate about how much Mickelson would or would not have been shown if he played better. Still, there were times when it seemed like ESPN made a concerted effort to ignore the big moments in Phil’s round. The coverage makes what we heard about the Masters Champions Dinner even more interesting.
