Recent success keeping Phil Mickelson sharp

The young folks will let you know when you’re getting old.

As Phil Mickelson reminisced on his first major victory at the Masters Tournament in 2004, he joked that looking back made him feel old.

Photos: Tuesday Masters Practice Round

When he was asked about once denying a young Brooks Koepka an autograph, to now sharing the course with him, it reminded him he’s getting old.

As the 48-year-old prepares for his 27th Masters, it’s hard to deny his age. But he was quick to give Tiger Woods credit for staying relevant into his 40s -- so why can’t he?

Coming off his 44th PGA Tour victory in February at Pebble Beach, he’s got confidence.

“I think it’s a big thing heading into this week to have won a tournament; Tiger winning The Tour Championship, myself winning the AT&T; having that little successes, those mini successes are an important thing to increase your chances here at Augusta,” Mickelson said.

He came through Augusta a few weeks ago to re-familiarize himself with the course, allowing him to truly hone in on execution during the practice rounds.

“Every time I come out here and practice, I pick up a little something here or there that I did not know on how to play a certain shot from a certain position to a certain pin,” he said. “But greens No. 5 and No. 18 were slightly, were redone, and there were subtle changes, subtle break changes, and it was important that I pick up on that and see that.”

With his kids’ spring break falling the week before the Masters this year, he’s able to focus truly on his golf game. He talked about the memories he had over the years sharing this week with his family, some made off the golf course.

“One of my fond memories was in 2010 when my middle daughter and I would go grab coffee before the rounds at this little coffee shop that’s not there anymore and we would play chess three, four or five hours before the round,” Mickelson said. He later added, “Those little moments, like the greatest moments in life are those spontaneous moments with your family and we’ve had a lot of those special moments here at Augusta, and I love looking back on those.”

Mickelson has made the cut in all but three of his Masters appearances, including nine top-3 finishes, 11 top-5 finishes and 15 top-10 finishes. He’s paired with Justin Rose and Justin Thomas, teeing off at 1:49 p.m. Thursday and will reach another milestone in this Masters; Friday’s second round would be the 100th competitive round at Augusta National.

“I didn’t even know that until you brought it up,” Mickelson said. “I’ve been fortunate to play a lot of rounds here, and I cherish and love every one of them, even the practice rounds.”