Champions Dinner funny: Never doubt Phil Mickelson’s pavlova knowledge

AUGUSTA, Ga. – The highlight of Tuesday’s Champions Dinner at the Masters is the storytelling, and Phil Mickelson offered a glimpse into how lively some of those stories can be.

At Adam Scott’s dinner in 2014, he went with an Australian-themed meal that included “Moreton Bay Bugs,” a type of Australian lobster, and a meringue-based desert called pavlova.

“Now, you can’t Google this stuff because there’s no cell phones allowed, right,” Mickelson explained. “I said, ‘Oh, pavlova, that’s inspired by the great Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova who was touring through New Zealand, Australia, and an Australian chef so inspired by her beautiful movement and tutu, he made a dessert after her.”

Zach Johnson immediately doubted Mickelson. “I’ve got a hundred dollars that says that’s not right,” he said. Even then-Augusta National chairman Billy Payne, the only person at the dinner who is not a Masters champion, questioned Mickelson’s odd knowledge of the dish.

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“So, everybody is calling me out on my BS. And a lot of times, I am BS’ing,” Mickelson laughed. “However, my daughter was a dancer, and she wrote a biography on Anna Pavlova, and I made 32 pavlovas for her class when she was a little girl, and I knew this. I ended up being right, which is not often, but I was right on that particular moment.”

For his menu Dustin Johnson is serving pigs in a blanket and lobster and corn fritters, house or Caesar salad, filet mignon and miso-marinated sea bass with peach cobbler/apple pie and vanilla ice cream for dessert.