Masters Week Next Week: Phil Mickelson and Proud Fathers

I met Phil Mickelson by chance near the players entrance a few years back at the US Open at Olympia Fields in Chicago. He's been my favorite golfer for years, and when I told him that, he said, "Thanks very much! Do you mind if I ask why?"

I told him that I liked it that he acknowledged the fans and that he just generally carried himself well. That when some idiot reporter asked him about the pressure of making a putt or scrambling for a par, he tended to answer by saying how fortunate he was to be able to play a game for a living. When someone asked him, "Would you really leave the US Open (the year he finished runner-up to Payne Stewart when his wife, Amy, was about to have their first baby) for the birth of your child?" he said, "Yes. There will be other US Opens."

I told him that it occurred to me that every time his Dad saw him on TV that he must be really proud of Phil, and that it would be pretty cool if my son grew up to conduct himself similarly.

"Thank you very much," Mickelson said, "that's very kind of you to say that." If his dad had been watching us, I think he'd have been really proud of his son.

Last year, when our then-five-year-old son won the 7-year-old flight Club Championship at our Club, he ran to give a high five and congratulate his buddy, Zach, who finished third. Then he whispered to me, "Daddy, did I really get first place?" When I told him he really did, he looked up and whispered, "Shweeeeet!"

His dad was really proud.

I wonder if, and hope that my dad is, too.