Phil Mickelson can play at the U.S. Open through 2026 after winning the 2021 PGA Championship ( Image: Getty Images)
“Phil Mickelson admitted to appropriating a sign from Augusta National Golf Club, explaining that the signs were placed in locations essential for his targeted practice drills aimed at enhancing his performance during the Masters.”
In a video posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, Mickelson explains he stole the sign, labeled “EAST PRACTICE TEE FOR SHORT GAME PRACTICE ONLY,” in 2005 and attempted to do it again in 2006.
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Per Lefty’s explanation, he started working with coach Dave Pelz on a daily drill in 2004 in which they put towels down on a driving range from distances up to 175 yards and hit balls to them.
The drill apparently worked well for Mickelson because that was the year he won the Masters for his first career major title.
In the video, Mickelson goes on to claim Augusta National put up a sign on the driving range where he preferred to work on the drill in 2005 and he came up with a plan to get rid of it:
“After the Champions Dinner, I let all the champions leave first, and I go down Magnolia Lane and I park the car, and I kind of crawl under the magnolias, and I take that sign and I wiggle and I wiggle and I lift and I yank it out and I throw it in the back of my SUV and off I go. So I show up the next morning and there’s no sign there, I start hitting my shots, I do my towel drill and I do it all week long.”
Phil Mickelson noted a new sign was back in the same spot when he arrived for the tournament in 2006 and he attempted to steal it again, but “there’s some video of me crawling under these magnolias with the guys saying, ‘Look at this idiot, what’s he doing?'”
The video concludes with Mickelson holding up the sign he says he took as proof that his planned heist worked at least one time.
Given how strict and tightly-managed everything at Augusta National Golf Club is, it’s surprising that anyone would be able to get away with a stunt like the one Mickelson claims to have pulled off.
It’s also not like Augusta National doesn’t have a lot of space where a player could work on the type of drill Mickelson employed, but he might have fond memories of that particular area since it may have helped him win his first-ever green jacket.
Even though Mickelson was unable to steal the sign in 2006, he won the tournament for a second time with a score of seven-under par.
