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USA Today via Reuters

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USA Today via Reuters

Despite making tons of records on the field, Phil Mickelson lost numerous fans after he joined LIV Golf. The golfer also made a few rivals on the PGA Tour, who blamed Mickelson for luring out other players to follow him. However, it was not just the LIV Golf league that got Mickelson to being disliked by fellow golfers. There was a time when Brooks Koepka opened up about his old feelings about Mickelson.

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Phil Mickelson once had a forgotten incident with Brooks Koepka

Not every player got famous during the time Mickelson reached success in the field of golf. The six-time major champion is currently the top-paid golfer across the world according to Forbes. And it is not hard to imagine how many fans he had during the prime of his career.

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It is not easy for someone so famous to personally attend to each fan who wants to meet him. And so during the Augusta National event in the late 90s, Mickelson once turned down a small kid who kept waiting for him in the parking lot. The kid was looking forward to getting Mickelson’s autograph, but despite getting 50 others, came back home without seeing Lefty.

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And as was expected from the golf legend, he has no remembrance of turning down that little kid who waited patiently to get his autograph. But he only got to know about the incident at the right time, which was 20 years later. Turned out the little kid was none other than pro-golfer Brooks Koepka. The golfer holds numerous records himself as of today and has played several matches with Mickelson.

What did Koepka say about the incident with Mickelson?

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“I can’t believe he doesn’t remember the first time he ever said no to a kid, signing an autograph,” Koepka said. The golfer was adamant about meeting his favorite golfers, including Mickelson. His love for golf struck him way back when he went to Augusta for the first time.

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Koepka also confronted Mickelson about the incident to make sure he knows what he did to the little golfer back in the day. During a practice round at the British Open, Koepka told Mickelson about the incident. He said“Listen, man, you stiffed me, and I really didn’t like you for a long time.” And in his response, Mickelson said that he had told Koepka about how it was not right for him to be waiting in the parking lot. He said it was against the protocols for a player to attend to his fans in a parking lot. Although Mickelson is not very famous for abiding by rules, his reason sure made Koepka laugh for a minute.

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Joydeep Singh

1,339 Articles

Joydeep Singh is a senior golf writer at EssentiallySports, boasting an impressive portfolio of over 1000 articles. Joydeep's expertise spans across various aspects of the sport, specifically his speculations and analysis of the upcoming events on the PGA Tour calendar. One of Joydeep's most notable moments at EssentiallySports was when his article on Tiger Woods' withdrawal from the 2023 Masters garnered an overwhelming response from fans. As a devoted fan of Woods, Joydeep firmly believes that the golf legend still has what it takes to inch closer to Jack Nicklaus' record. Joydeep relaxes on the weekend with a game of golf in his neighborhood fairway, with close friends, where he is known for his clutch putts.

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Manaal Siddiqui

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