Phil Mickelson was furious with himself after hitting a shot into the water as he made his return to the Masters, shooting a one-under 71 in his opening round.
The 52-year-old missed last year's tournament after deciding to take a break from golf amid major controversy. Mickelson stepped away from the sport after he was quoted as calling the Saudis "scary motherf***ers" while discussing LIV Golf.
He later ended up joining LIV and is one of 18 rebels who were allowed to compete in this year's Masters by tournament organisers Augusta National. And Mickelson is currently six shots behind early leaders Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka and Viktor Hovland, having previously won the event three times.
It was a relatively low-key opening round by Mickelson's standards, having admitted ahead of the Masters he is yet to find his best form. On two occasions Mickelson found the water with poor shots and he could be heard chastising himself as his ball landed in the water on the 11th hole.
"Oh no, you dummy," he fumed. "What are you doing?" However, he was more circumspect when reflecting on his performance with reporters, stating: "I hit a lot of good shots today and had a chance to shoot a low round.
"But this is the issue I've been dealing with is I'll make two swings and it costs me four shots on 11 and 16. I just need to keep working on eliminating it.
"I'm hitting enough good shots to shoot some good numbers, and I'm having fun playing, and I'm having fun hitting the shots again and driving it well. Just need to stay a little bit sharper."
Mickelson has so far failed to make the top 25 in all three of LIV's events so far this year and says he is more focused on simply enjoying the Masters, having been concerned he could be banned from the tournament due to joining LIV.
"That I get to play Augusta National in the Masters and this is an awesome day no matter what I shoot," he added. "Just trying to enjoy the day and not put so much pressure on myself.
"I was actually enjoying it and appreciative of the opportunity to be here. There was a lot of talk a year ago [about] guys [from LIV] wouldn't be able to be here, and I'm very grateful for the opportunity to play and compete here and be a part of it."
