Phil Mickelson snaps back at Fred Couples' LIV comment: 'This is a low-class jerk move'

• Phil Mickelson criticized Fred Couples for comments Couples made about Brooks Koepka wanting to return to the PGA Tour.
• Couples, who recently received a lifetime achievement award, stated that Koepka has expressed a desire to rejoin the PGA Tour.
• Mickelson, on social media, called Couples's actions "a low-class jerk move" for potentially harming Koepka's relationships or control over his future.
• This incident is the latest in a series of public disagreements between Mickelson and Couples regarding the ongoing conflict between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf.

Phil Mickelson and Fred Couples may need to be seated at opposite ends of the table at the Champions Dinner at Augusta National next month.

Mickelson fired a shot on social media at Couples, who was honored last week in his native Seattle with a lifetime achievement award. During the event, Couples did an interview with Sports Radio 93.3 KJR. When asked about the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, Couples initially said he had little to say but then he added that he talks to Brooks Koepka, the five-time major champion and LIV player, regularly and noted that Koepka wants to return to the PGA Tour. 

“He wants to come back. I will say that, believe me, he really wants to come back and play the PGA Tour,” Couples said. 

Golfweek was the first to report those comments on Monday and the story soon took on a life of its own. Mickelson responded to a Golf Digest post on X that asked, “Do [you] want Brooks back on the PGA Tour? 

Mickelson replied, “If it’s not true he damaged a relationship which he cares about. If it is true he took away Brook’s [sic] control of the timeline and narrative. Either way this is a low class jerk move by Fred.”

Mickelson later scrubbed the tweet from his account.

It's not the first time these two have been engaged in a war of words during the PGA Tour-LIV Golf spat. Two years ago, Couples called Mickelson a "nut job." Suffice it to say, these past Masters champs and members of the World Golf Hall of Fame won’t be singing Kumbaya together any time soon.