Phil Mickelson details crowd reception at The Open after making Royal Troon return

Phil Mickelson has expressed his appreciation for the warm reception he's received from The Open Championship crowd this week at Royal Troon for the final major of the 2024 season.

Mickelson is no stranger to the intensity of The Open, having been a key player in one of the tournament's most memorable battles in 2016 at Troon, where he was narrowly defeated by Henrik Stenson. Now, eight years later, he's back on the Ayrshire track for the first time since his second-place finish and had nothing but praise for the Scottish crowd after making the cut.

"People have been great, yeah," he remarked. "Look, they're always great out here. They're always respectful of everybody in the game, and they've been respectful to every player, and they were great today, and they've been great all week and everywhere."

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Despite sitting five-over-par in his opening two rounds with scores of 73 and 74 on Thursday and Friday, Mickelson secured his spot for the weekend. While his scores didn't put him in contention on the leaderboard, the six-time major champion was satisfied with his performance.

"I've played well this week, even though I have not scored well. I haven't saved the shots around the greens that I usually do. I've hit a lot of good shots, though. I've hit a lot of really good-quality shots and I've played some really good golf," he said, reflecting on his historically strong short game.

This week, he confessed that his performance around the greens is what has primarily let him down. The HyFlyers captain remarked, "I haven't scored the way I wanted to because my short game around the greens has not been as sharp as it needs to be to score on this golf course."

Come Saturday, the 54-year-old had his best showing of the tournament, as the stubborn Scottish links became a tad more manageable due to the low wind and warmer conditions. Mickelson recorded five birdies throughout his third round, including three in his last four holes, capping off an impressive display by the LIV member.

A day later Mickelson finished his week with a four-over 75 to finish the week at 11-over. One player who didn't advance to the weekend with Lefty was Mickelson's long-time rival Tiger Woods, whose tournament came to a premature end on Friday after finishing his 36 holes at 14-over-par.

Mickelson and Woods have taken different paths in the ongoing PGA Tour-LIV conflict over recent years. This week, however, the pair seemed on good terms, even getting in some practice side by side on the driving range at Royal Troon. Recalling their reunion, Mickelson mentioned, "We said hi. Yeah, we said hi, but we were both preparing. It's not like we're going to sit there and chat.But we said hello, yeah."

Mickelson was also asked if he and Woods could help reunite the world of professional golf, but he downplayed his role in the discussions. "Look, I don't know about that stuff," he said. "I'm not involved. I'm not sitting in those rooms. I am enjoying where I'm at and what I'm doing and playing. I'll let other people figure that stuff out."