Phil Mickelson’s back in black for Masters Sunday

Azalea pink may have been the new black for Phil Mickelson during his epic run up the Masters leaderboard on Saturday, but Ian Baker-Finch and other long-time Phil watchers need not fear -- Lefty will don his traditional Sunday black in an attempt to win his fourth green jacket.

Baker-Finch and others in the CBS booth could not get over the shockingly colorful polo shirt Mickelson wore as he tore up the rankings to fire a 5-under 67 and get to five shots back of 54-hole leader Jordan Spieth. The five-time major champion conceded, after going on a birdie barrage that included three straight early on the front nine, that he was not particularly partial to the hue of his shirt but he had a good feeling about it.

“It’s not my color, it doesn’t look good on me,” Mickelson said after playing himself into third place heading into Sunday’s finale. “But I had a premonition after spending time with Arnold Palmer.

“He likes to wear this color. I just had a feeling that I needed to make a move, and I had it in the bag and pulled it out.”

Studies indicated that dark colors incite aggressiveness, which is why some NFL teams that wear black incur more penalties, said Mickelson, who prefers the dark hue as well.

“I like to wear dark colors on Sunday. I’ve won three times here wearing black shirts, so I’ll wear a black shirt tomorrow,” he assured Baker-Finch and the rest of the Phil faithful. “It also helps me get more aggressive ... That’s what I need to do tomorrow is play more aggressive.”

Not that Mickelson was laid back on Saturday, when he immediately went after benign pin positions and made the turn at 4-under 32.

He was also in attack mode once he was on the greens, like when he drained an improbable 60-foot birdie putt on the par-3 16th.