Instead of tabloid Tiger, Masters gets storybook winner in Mickelson

AUGUSTA, Ga. - Last year on Saturday at the Masters, I stopped halfway down a steep hill to the No. 6 green. I found myself standing next to a familiar-looking blonde woman who seemed keenly interest in Phil Mickelson's game.

So I jokingly asked her if he was any good.

“He gets lucky now and then,” Amy Mickelson said with a straight face before adding, ”No, he's pretty amazing.”

Much to my pleasant surprise, she was happy to answer questions from a sportswriter she had never met. I found out later from others in my racket that she had always been a model of cooperation.

This weekend, I kept remembering what Amy told me about her husband and the Masters. Her words couldn't have a truer ring.

“This is the place in the world where Phil is happiest,” she said. “It's almost like a religious experience. Every shot means that much to him this week, even on Thursday.

“He loves it. It's really become such a part of who he is. He even putts in the dark here by himself, that's how much he takes it in. He'll come here at 8 at night and putt in the dark, just to get a feel of the place and heighten his senses.”

Last May 20, it was announced Amy had breast cancer. She hadn't been to a golf tournament since then. Dealing with the major surgery she endured and the treatment that followed make Augusta National chairman Billy Payne's characterization of Tiger Woods as a fallen “hero” seem especially wrong.

But Amy was able to make her way to the 18th green here Sunday after her husband finished a brilliant weekend of play for a 3-shot victory and his third Masters triumph.

The embrace the Mickelsons had as he came off the green was long and moving.

“I was just really glad she was there,” Mickelson said. “I wasn't sure if she was going to be there today. I knew she would be watching. I didn't know if she would be behind 18. To walk off the green and share that with her is very emotional for us.”

The irony couldn't have been lost on many television viewers around the world. A famous golfer and his wife, who had been working through a terrible time in their lives, were clinging to each other.

Mickelson surely won't feel compelled to make some insulting television commercial about that, a la the one Woods did for Nike using words his father had spoken while he was still alive.

How Augusta's members and so many golf fans must have loved it that it was Mickelson, and not Woods, getting custody of the winner's green jacket for a year.

Mickelson, battling heartache he didn't bring upon himself and his family, summoned his great skill and imagination time after time in playing his way into the lead before pulling away from the field at the end.

He has been called many things in his career, but never afraid. He showed an extra fearlessness on the 13th hole after his tee shot landed in some pine straw.

“I had a good lie in the pine needles,” Mickelson said. “I was going to have to go through that gap if I laid up or went for the green. I was going to have to hit a decent shot.

“I just felt like at that time, I needed to trust my swing and hit a shot, and it came off perfect.”

It cleared the creek in front of the green, and landed four feet from the cup. Mickelson missed the eagle putt, but tapped in for birdie after having drained a 15-foot birdie putt on the previous hole.

He was on his way to victory. There was no dark residue left from Winged Foot four years ago when Mickelson kicked away a U.S. Open win on the final hole with some bizarre shot and club selections. Lefty kept it straight the rest of the way, birdieing 15, and rolling in a 10-footer on the final hole just to leave a nice lasting image.

Well, the lasting image was actually that of he and his wife afterward.

“It's been tough,” Mickelson said, “because like I've said in the past, you know, we are fortunate long-term. But the meds that she's been taking have been very difficult, and she didn't feel well, and she doesn't have energy and she's just not up for a lot this tournament can provide.

“To have her here and share this moment and share the joy of winning on 18 and to share this with my kids is something that we'll look back on the rest of our lives.”

No, this was no tourney for a fallen “hero.” This was for people who stay strong.