Mickelson tweaks Kuchar on Twitter

Augusta, Ga. — Phil Mickelson brought his best stuff to the Masters, at least the drive down Magnolia Lane.

Mickelson was paired Saturday was Matt Kuchar, a good friend and one of the few players for whom Mickelson never has an answer during their banter. Lefty posted to Twitter his drive into Augusta National. He mixed his excitement with this barb at Kuchar.

“Obviously we’re not going to have any side action today because I’d probably see like .06% if I did win,” Mickelson said.

That was a slight exaggeration. Kuchar initially paid his local caddie in Mexico just under 0.4% — $5,000 from his $1,296,000 earnings. Kuchar later paid him $50,000.

Kuchar usually gets the better side of Mickelson.

One of those occasions was at Augusta National, when Mickelson wore Masters green, alligator skin shoes with a matching belt. Kuchar, never known to be at that sartorial level, questioned him about his wardrobe.

“You’ve got to win three green jackets to wear these,” 443 545 344-36 —72— 216 442 434 344-32 —66—203 443 444 344-34—64—205 443 444 244-33—67—205 443 543 344-34—69—206 343 335 244-31—64—207 453 444 343-34—68—207

Rocca later that year beat Woods in singles in the Ryder Cup at Valderrama.

Prize money

For the first time, the Masters champion will get just more than $2 million in addition to a green jacket.

The prize fund for the Masters was increased by $500,000 to $11.5 million. The winner will receive $2,070,000, with the runner-up getting $1,242,000. That’s still short of the $12 million prize money at the U.S. Open last year.

The Players Championship last month had a $12.5 million purse, with the winner getting $2.25 million.

From an inflation standpoint, Jack Nicklaus made $902,359 from his 45 appearances, including six green jackets.