Phil Mickelson birdied five of the last seven holes at Augusta National to shoot the lowest score ever recorded by an over 50 at The Masters.
Lefty, the Green Jacket winner in 2004, 2006 and 2010, began the day at one-under-par but his 65 propelled him to eight-under to post the clubhouse target and leave him T2nd by the time his birdie putt on the final green dropped.
Phil Mickelson shoots 65 (-7) to post the clubhouse lead at eight-under-par. Wow. #themasters pic.twitter.com/8KYcWhdmC0April 9, 2023
"To come out today and play the way I did and hit the shots when I needed, it's so much fun," he said. "I'm grateful to be a part of this tournament and to be here competing and then to play well, it means a lot."
The controversial American, now with LIV Golf, is back at The Masters after skipping last year's tournament amid a four month spell away from the game due to comments he made relating to Saudi Arabia and using the PGA Tour as leverage for the new LIV Golf start-up.
And yet despite showing little-to-no form, with just one top-10 in ten 48-man LIV events, Mickelson rolled back the years on Sunday at Augusta with a truly sensational last round.
The 52-year-old played alongside Jordan Spieth for the final 18 and the duo shot a combined 13-under-par between them, with the Texan going round in 66.
Mickelson had previously stated that his game was in good shape earlier in the week, saying he was ready to "go on a tear soon."
"I'm actually looking forward to the weekend," he said after round two.
"I know I've been hitting it, playing better than I've been scoring, and I'm looking forward to just putting one round together that I know I'm capable of, and if I do that, it's going to be a really fun weekend.
"I'm going to go on a tear pretty soon. You wouldn't think it. You look at the scores. But I've been playing exactly how I played yesterday, hitting the ball great, turning 65s, 66s into 77s."
