'I'm Ready To Go On A Tear' - Phil Mickelson

Phil Mickelson may not have been well fancied by many this week - certainly not by the bookmakers - but Lefty is predicting that he’s about to go very low. After posting a second-round 69 at The Masters to get four-under overall, the confident American is “ready to go on a tear”.

The LIV Golf player has been quietly going about his business, and although Thursday’s opening round of 71 didn’t exactly make a huge statement, Friday’s work contained plenty of good stuff - and it's got the 52-year-old very excited.

"I scored really well today," said a pumped Mickelson. "I actually did not hit it anywhere near as well as I did yesterday. But I scored well. I got it up and down, made a lot of good putts.

"I'm actually looking forward to the weekend. I know I've been hitting it, playing better than I've been scoring, and I'm looking forward to just putting one round together that I know I'm capable of, and if I do that, it's going to be a really fun weekend."

Mickelson, who became golf’s oldest Major winner when he won the 2021 PGA Championship aged 50, didn’t stop at saying he was playing well. Three times he said he was going to go on a "tear", which will certainly excite LIV Golf CEO and commissioner Greg Norman, who’s desperate to see one of the rival Tour’s players pull on the Green Jacket.

"I'm going to go on a tear pretty soon,” he stressed. "You wouldn't think it. You look at the scores. But I've been playing exactly how I played yesterday, hitting the ball great, turning 65s, 66s into 77s.

"I'm ready to go on a tear. I don't know why I'm playing well - actually, I do. I've been putting in the work. One of my [LIV Golf] teammates, Brendan Steele, has been helping me with the driver.

"I've been able to talk to some of my guys, like [Cameron] Tringale is one of the best putters in the game. I've been talking to him about putting. I'm putting great. I've actually been driving the ball great coming in here. Drove it pretty well yesterday. Steely has been helpful with that. So I'm close to going on a tear."

AUGUSTA 'SPIRITUAL' 

Mickelson clearly hasn’t been affected by any of the LIV Golf chat ahead of what is his 30th Masters. The Saudi-backed Tour continues to cause rifts within the game - but the three-time Masters champion is feeling quite at home in Georgia.

"I would use the word more spiritual," he said of Augusta National, where he last won the Green Jacket in 2010. "If you love golf, when you come here, it's more of a spiritual experience, where you feel this appreciation for this great game and the gratitude that you have.

"Then this tournament, this course gives something for everybody to aspire to. If you're a kid and you're dreaming of playing in the Masters and you want to win it, it gives you something to aspire to. It did for me."