Nick Faldo found Phil Mickelson’s silence to be deafening.
The two legendary golfers have been at odds ever since Mickelson left the PGA Tour to join controversial LIV Golf in 2022.
They crossed paths earlier this week at the Masters Champions Dinner in Augusta, Ga., where the retired Faldo is on hand commenting for Sky Sports.
Faldo told the listening audience that Mickelson was in a subdued mood and that his reunion with other PGA golfers was awkward, according to The Sun.
Phil Mickelson swings during the second round of the Masters on Friday. USA TODAY Network “Phil was very quiet on Tuesday, he didn’t say a word,” Faldo said. “He was dead quiet, standing next to me. I wonder why.”
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Mickelson won the Masters in 2004, 2006 and 2010.
Faldo won in 1989, 1990 and 1996.
Faldo said last year that he didn’t think LIV Golf would survive much longer after the $3 billion merger between the PGA and the LIV’s investors.
“I don’t think so because nobody’s really interested,” Faldo said at the time. “They call it a team (event) and it’s not because it’s strokeplay. … It’s only half a dozen (players) that are really current. Half of the field I don’t really know, and half the field are there for the very nice last-placed money that you still get if you shoot 20-over.”
Nick Faldo said that Phil Mickelson was “dead quiet” at the Masters Champions Dinner. Getty Images That was more blatant than the subtle shot that Faldo took at the level of competition in LIV Golf.
Defending Masters champion Jon Rahm is a LIV participant, playing on what Faldo called “resort courses.”
Faldo knows about successfully defending a Masters title.
“Whether coming to defend you can do it, or whether he’s just not quite sharp enough because he hasn’t tested himself quite as much,” Faldo said, according to the Mirror, “we’ll have to wait and see.”
