Phil Mickelson admits to stealing property from Augusta National in epic story

Phil Mickelson might have a new enemy … and it’s the most prestigious name in golf. Augusta National probably doesn’t like the story the three-time Masters champion shared on Twitter.

In a video posted on the social media platform, Mickelson detailed a story in which he stole a sign from the golf course in 2005. The sign was located on the east driving range — but the golfer had a reason.

Mickelson says that in 2004, he began doing a towel drill on the driving range for specific distances. That seemed to work well for the former PGA Tour star, as he claimed his first green jacket that year.

So, when Mickelson arrived the following year, Augusta National put up a sign that read, “EAST PRACTICE TEE FOR SHORT GAME PRACTICE ONLY.” That didn’t sit well with him.

Story time with Phil (me:)
Enjoy 😊 pic.twitter.com/koePrh38Il

— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) August 25, 2023

“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,” Mickelson says. “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.”

Problem solved, right? Well, that was the case for 2005. But Mickelson revealed that Augusta replaced the sign for the 2006 tournament. So, he tried to add a second sign to his collection.

Augusta National caught on to his scheme, though.

“I show up the next day and I’m going to go do my towel drill and there’s another sign there,” Phil explained. “It never dawned on me there are cameras everywhere and there’s some video of me crawling under these magnolias with the guys saying, ‘Look at this idiot, what’s he doing?’”

But perhaps that brought some good luck, too? Mickelson won his second green jacket in 2006, which also marked his third major championship.

Mickelson also won The Masters in 2010, the last time he was victorious at Augusta. He’s also a two-time PGA Championship winner (2005, 2021) and claimed the Open Championship in 2013, bringing his total to six.

So, maybe if Mickelson wants to add another green jacket to his collection, he should try to leave the prestigious course with another one of its signs. It seems to bring him good luck.