At Long Last, Fan Favorite Finishes First

AUGUSTA, Ga. â€”  When he won the Masters, Phil Mickelson didn’t have any trouble finding people to hug. He hugged his caddie, he hugged his wife, he hugged his agent, he hugged his coach and he hugged his eldest daughter.

Then he hugged Sophia, his 2 1/2-year-old daughter, who wore a bright pink Easter dress. Mickelson wore a huge smile.

He leaned close and told her the news.

“Daddy won!�

And with that, it was official. Mickelson could finally spread the message he and everyone else in the golf world has been waiting for, that he had at last won a major championship.

Word got out in a hurry. Before Mickelson slipped into his green jacket, President Bush called him at Butler Cabin to offer congratulations.

From the Oval Office to the green office of Augusta National, there had been a certain strange calmness that surrounded Mickelson in what should have amounted to his most perplexing and nerve-bending moments as he tried to chase down Ernie Els.

It was almost eerie watching Mickelson smiling and nodding to the crowd, keeping his cool, even when Els reached the 13th, made his second eagle of the day and took a three-shot lead. In times past, Mickelson might have forced the issue, gone for broke, shot the works, but as he has said so many times this year, he’s a different player now.

Right after the eagle by Els, Mickelson made a birdie at 12 and showed he meant exactly what he said.

He birdied five of the last seven holes, shot a 31 on the back nine, hit a safe three-wood at the 18th instead of a risky driver, made a 20-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole and defeated Els by one shot in one of the most dramatic Masters tournaments in history.

Mickelson could bid farewell to a label he never really wanted, the best player never to win a major. He said he wasn’t sorry to say goodbye to that one, because he had to play 47 majors, 43 of them as a pro, to get it done.

It has been a long, difficult journey for Mickelson, who had come close before, only to fall short of his major goal.

But this year would be different, that’s what he believed. He even had a plan to make sure of it. With swing coaches Rick Smith and Dave Peltz at his side, Mickelson worked on keeping the ball on the fairway and finding the right distance with his irons and wedges. He also toned his body and improved his physical conditioning.

As for the mental part, Mickelson knew he needed more work too, so he changed his attitude.

It was an all-new Mickelson who showed up for his first tournament of the year and won the Bob Hope in a playoff.

The feeling he had this week at Augusta National was very close to what has been going on for four months now. He had been third for three straight years here, but that was the old Phil, not the new, improved version.

Call it the power of positive thinking. That wasn’t him in the past. This time, he was relaxed, he believed it was his week and that he was going to come through.

There was none of the usual anxiety that when things went bad, somebody was going to lap him.

And so it really was a new day. The numbers, except for major titles, have always been there for Mickelson: more than $25 million in earnings, 22 victories, in 12 years as a professional.

Now there is another one.

It’s 43 long, which is the size of his new green jacket.

He probably isn’t thinking about it right now because he’s too busy hugging people, but when Mickelson stops long enough, what he should take away from his week at Augusta National is something that might give him the strength to win another time on a major stage.

Simply, Mickelson stepped up and delivered. He took on all doubters and proved them wrong. He answered every challenger and beat them all.

After everything he has been through, he won, just as he told Sophia.

Afterward, there was no sense of “I told you so� from Mickelson to his critics and no outpouring of relief, just an honest expression of joy.

Mickelson is a popular champion and the difficulty of his journey to win a major title was something with which fans could identify. He probably picked up so many more Sunday that he could be passing out hugs for a very long time.

He is 33 and it took him 12 years to win his first major, but Mickelson intends to let this one soak in. When he was asked what he planned to serve at next year’s Champions dinner, he joked that it would be hamburgers -- fast-food hamburgers.

As we should know by now, nothing fast should ever be on a Mickelson menu. Hamburgers are fine, but they’ll have to be slow-cooked.

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Clutch Putts

Players who won the Masters by making a birdie on the final putt of regulation play, with distance of winning putt:

*--* 2004 Phil Mickelson 20 feet 1998 Mark O’Meara 20 feet 1988 Sandy Lyle 10 feet 1960 Arnold Palmer 6 feet

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