Jack Nicklaus Takes Vicious Condescending Shot At Phil Mickelson At The Masters

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We have ourselves some legend-on-legend crime as the Masters gets underway on Thursday courtesy of Jack Nicklaus.

After Nicklaus sent a tee shot down the first fairway as an honorary starter to help get the festivities underway at Augusta National, the six-time Masters champion stepped into the media center to answer a few questions alongside Gary Player and Tom Watson. 

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Phil Mickelson is always a topic of conversation at the Masters given the three green jackets he owns and the fact that he's just two years removed from a surprising T-2 finish in the 2023 Masters. The lefty also earned a sixth-place finish at LIV Miami just a week ago, which led a reporter to ask Nicklaus if he was surprised to see Mickelson still competing at a high level at 54-years-old.

Nicklaus took this as an opportunity to throw shade at both Mickelson and LIV Golf.

"Well, you know, I don't know what level Phil is competing at," Nicklaus said. "I guess he's still playing. He's playing the LIV Tour, is he? I don't know if he's playing or not. I don't know, you never see that anymore."

Nicklaus' tongue-in-cheek question about Mickelson playing on LIV was the real dagger. Not too bad of a zinger from the 85-year-old legend.

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The Golden Bear has not shied away from sharing his opinion about the Saudi-backed circuit over the years.

In May of 2023, Nicklaus made it clear that he doesn't give LIV Golf or its players much thought.

"I don’t even consider those guys part of the game anymore. I don’t mean that in a nasty way. This is a PGA Tour event and we have the best field we can possibly have for a PGA Tour event for those who are eligible to be here," Nicklaus said ahead of the 2023 Memorial Tournament, which he hosts.

Mickelson is playing in his 32nd Masters this week, but got off to a slow start on Thursday playing his opening nine holes at 3-over par.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets, including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016, when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.