Some topics never go away at the Masters. One of them is the many things that newly crowned champions do with the green jackets they are awarded. For the first year after their victory, winners can take the jacket with them wherever they please.

Australia's Adam Scott took it around the world. Bubba Watson took it to his high school, his elementary school, his middle school and the University of Georgia. Watson also said that when he kept the jacket at his home, he would hide it from visitors. "I don't let anybody see or touch it," he said. "I'm very protective of it."

Corporate outings

Phil Mickelson

has taken a different approach. He wore it to all the corporate outings he was invited to, and to any event. And then he used it as a surprise golf prop. “I would put it in my golf bag and if it was chilly in the morning, I would pull it out,” Mickelson, a three-time Masters champion, said. “It’s fun to do that with that jacket. I wouldn’t carry three jackets around with me, but I would say, ‘I’ve got two more, if you’re cold as well.’

“But that’s just being rude. You’ve got to be careful who you say that stuff to.”

The champions' jackets remain at the Augusta National Golf Club after the first anniversary of a player's victory. Scott said he slips it on whenever he goes to the club, even for practice rounds. "I'll go to the club and wear it to dinner," Scott said, smiling. "It's a great feeling. I put it on, check that it still fits. It feels very good. I look forward to it. "You know there's only so many of them in the world."

Mickelson began his appearance at a midweek press conference by describing his recent form. “The last year and a half has not been my best,” he said. “It’s been terrible.”

But Mickelson believes he is regaining some of his confident swagger. “I’m getting my aggressive play back, and that’s what I need for my game,” he said. “It lets me go for birdies, and that’s what I need to do. I feel like I’m coming around. I don’t know if it’ll be in time this week, but I hope so.”

Mickelson said he was healthy, in part, because he was working out more often. "As I get older, I need to put in more time than I used to. So this offseason I did, and now my back has been great." New York Times Service