BROOKLINE, Mass. — Has Phil Mickelson turned into public enemy No. 1, or is he still a huge fan favorite in the wake of his defection to Saudi-backed LIV Golf?
The answer to that question is certainly one of the chief storylines heading into the U.S. Open, which begins Thursday at The Country Club.
Mickelson is playing on U.S. soil for the first time since joining the controversial tour.
While he’s ruffled some feathers with the PGA Tour, and with fellow players, how would the fans treat him?
Based on the crowd reaction Tuesday while Mickelson played a practice round with Jon Rahm and fellow LIV Golf member Kevin Na, the six-time major winner hasn’t lost his appeal. The Mickelson fan club remains loud and strong.
As he walked the fairways, he was greeted with chants of “We Love You Phil,” and “Go Get ‘Em Lefty” almost at every turn.
On the seventh fairway, one fan shouted: “Just win, baby! It’s going to be a media spectacle!”
He also received birthday wishes along the route — he turns 52 Thursday — and plenty of encouragement.
Mickelson, who spent 10 minutes signing autographs for fans who were lined up 10-deep at the turn, acknowledged the cheers and sometimes engaged with the crowd during his round.
The banter was friendly, and sometimes comical.
Mickelson to no one in particular: “Are the Celtics going to pull it off?”
Response from someone in the gallery: “Is Phil going to pull it off?”
During his illustrious career, he’s won the Masters, the British Open and PGA Championship, but the U.S. Open is the missing jewel to his career Grand Slam.
He’s lost the U.S. Open in torturous fashion on several occasions, so there are fans who are rooting for him to finally get that monkey off his back. He’s currently 0 for 30 at what’s often considered the toughest major.
And while most of the crowd reactions were positive, there were a few that went the other way. His allegiance to the Saudi-backed tour struck a nerve with some.
“We love you Phil,” said one.
While another followed: “Not as much as we used to.”
Then came the one real exception to the Mickelson lovefest.
On the eighth hole, one fan shouted: “Khashoggi!”
That’s the name of the Washington Post reporter and U.S. resident (Jamal Khashoggi) who was murdered by agents of the Saudi government at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.
It was a clear slam aimed at Mickelson, as well as Na, who also joined LIV Golf.
Kenny Harms, who is Na’s caddie, grabbed officials and pointed out the man who shouted Khashoggi’s name. The man was standing in the trees between the eighth and ninth fairways, and was quickly driven away in a golf cart. It’s unclear if he was arrested or simply ejected.
Both Mickelson and Na were assigned security details for the practice round, and that will likely be the case during the tournament. With two uniformed Brookline police officers per player, there were four officers walking with the Mickelson group. The Boston Herald was told there were also plainclothes officers planted in the crowd.
Heading into the week, a source told the Herald the expectation was for a negative and possibly hostile crowd reaction to Mickelson and others who split from the PGA Tour to basically pocket more money from LIV Golf.
Na, meanwhile, told the Herald the overall crowd reaction put him at ease going forward and is a likely precursor to what happens when Mickelson — along with other LIV Golf members — tee off Thursday at the start of the tournament.
“It’s nice to see that people are here to watch golf and they want to see good golf and they’re here to cheer, mostly Phil, and be supportive,” said Na. “This is about golf.”
Harms said the reaction was good, save for the “one clown.”
Mickelson was also approached by the Herald for a comment on the reaction from the fans lining the course, just before he took part in the autograph session, but politely declined, and went about signing as many caps, flags, golf balls and pictures as possible before heading over to No. 10.
Lefty was just happy to engage with fans on a glorious afternoon on the golf course.
Crowd: “Who’s the bigger trash-talker, (Tom) Brady, or Peyton Manning.”
Mickelson: “They’re both strong.”
And so it went.
