Phil Mickelson will not play in next month’s Masters, missing the Augusta National showdown for the first time since 1994. Photo: EPA/ERIK S. LESSER
Masters 2019: Mickelson has a dig at stingy Kuchar [video]
Phil Mickelson had a sly dig at Matt Kuchar ahead of Round 3 of the 2019 Masters at Augusta. Who knew golfers had jokes.
Phil Mickelson will not play in next month’s Masters, missing the Augusta National showdown for the first time since 1994. Photo: EPA/ERIK S. LESSER
Three-time champion Phil Mickelson vowed to “hit bombs” in the third round of the Masters, and he aimed his first one at playing partner Matt Kuchar.
Mickelson posted a video on Twitter Saturday morning of himself driving down Magnolia Lane offering a commentary on his plans for the day when he teed off alongside Kuchar at 19:45 (SAST).
“Obviously, we’re not going to have any side action today because I’d probably see like .06 percent if I did win,” Mickelson said – a sly dig at the contretemps that embroiled Kuchar when he paid his Mexican caddie a tiny fraction of his top prize for his Mayakoba Classic win in November.
“But we’re going to have a great day,” Mickelson said.
The 48-year-old American noted his all-black wardrobe for the weekend and said his swing speed topped out at 125.1 mph on Friday night.
“I haven’t gotten to that in my life,” said Mickelson, adding that the precision needed for Augusta’s approach shots made big drives important.
“That’s what I’m going to do today,” vowed Mickelson, who went into the third round three shots off the lead shared by five players. “Hit bombs and attack the pins.”
South Africans Justin Harding and Louis Oosthuizen were both in contention during Round 3. You can follow live Masters updates here.
Watch: Mickelson trolls Kuchar before Masters 2019 Round 3
Weekend at @TheMasters hitting BOMBS ? and attacking pins.
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) April 13, 2019
LFG!!! #Lefty pic.twitter.com/yTt0yVJ5tQ
Kuchar’s Mexican drama explained
Kuchar also offered a belated apology following outrage on social media after paying his local caddie just $5 000 for his $1.3 million
Kuchar’s insistence that the payment was fair – calling it a “good week” for a caddie who normally makes $100-$200 a day – only brought more criticism and the US veteran eventually backtracked, agreeing in February to pay caddie David Giral Ortiz the $50 000 he had requested – still well below the ten percent bonus from Kuchar’s purse that a regular US PGA Tour caddie would have expected.
Additional reporting by AFP.
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