With the news of Phil Mickelson returning to tournament play this week, I’ve decided to tell you my Mickelson story, and I don’t mean Phil, I mean Amy Mickelson.
Semi-regular readers of this space figured out a long time ago that I was not a big Phil Mickelson fan. They assumed that I didn’t like his attitude, or that he had snubbed me at some media event, or that I thought he had a million dollar swing and a two-dollar brain, and all that would be true. But frankly, I never thought much about Phil Mickelson one way or another until 1996; that was the year Phil won the Byron Nelson Championship.
Since the Byron Nelson Championship began in 1956 (then known as the Dallas Open), after accepting the trophy and check, winners have been escorted to the marshals' tent to thank and toast the hundreds of volunteers who worked so hard to help make the tournament a success. It’s a respected tradition carried out over the years by the likes of Don January, Sam Snead, Jack Nicklaus, Chi Chi Rodriguez, Lanny Wadkins, Tom Watson, Raymond Floyd, Ben Crenshaw, Fred Couples, Payne Stewart, Nick Price, Ernie Els, Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia, Vijay Singh, Adam Scott and others. You get the point.
The tradition of the winner visiting the marshals' tent at the Nelson is not some half-baked idea that I thought up. It was and is, in the purest sense, a tradition based on a mutual love for the game and the men and woman who play at its highest level. A Tradition created by none other than Byron Nelson and carried on by the tournament that still bears his name.
In 1996, Phil Mickelson was 26 years old, a professional golfer and already a millionaire. Since 1992, he had dated a former cheerleader who knew nothing about golf. As a matter of fact when he told her he was a professional golfer, she assumed that he worked at a golf course. She soon learned differently.
Throughout the 1996 Byron Nelson Championship, Phil’s soon to be wife Amy walked the course in support of her betrothed almost unnoticed. With her wedding to Phil about a month away, she was hoping that Phil would win enough for a nice down payment on the house they wanted to buy, which seems kind of naive in retrospect. History will tell you that her dream came true when Phil won the ’96 Nelson and pocketed enough money to buy several houses, depending on your taste.
It was a storybook tournament ending; young superstar with beautiful fiancée by his side wins the Nelson and flies off on their honeymoon with Lord Byron Nelson’s words of congratulation still ringing in their ears. It was the golfer equivalent to having your marriage blessed by the Pope.
However, there was one task left to do before Phil and Amy flew off to Shangri-La; Phil was supposed join Byron Nelson in the marshals' tent for the traditional toast and congratulations to the volunteers. However, young Phil, with the winner’s share already in his back pocket, apparently didn’t see the point and had no intention of wasting ten minutes worth of his time congratulating who? Even after the tradition was explained to him, young Phil was anxious to start his own tradition of getting out of town before the sun went down.
Then up stepped Amy and promptly informed young Mr. Mickelson that the discussion was over and that he was going to take ten minutes out of his life and thank the volunteers. And with that he and Amy got into the golf cart and headed for the marshals' tent where Phil was totally charming and humble. Amy also thanked the volunteers and told everyone about buying her new home and we all cheered.
When I heard about Amy Mickelson being diagnosed with breast cancer two weeks ago, I remember the strong young woman who stepped up that day in 1996 and taught Phil Mickelson a thing or two about life. And, I expect, this same young wife and mother is still strong and about to teach the rest of us a thing or two about life.
I’ve always known that women were nicer and always suspected that they were also the stronger of the species, but now and then even the strongest could use an edge. So take a moment and say a prayer, or light a candle, or simply think good thoughts for Amy Mickelson; she’s the strong one standing behind Phil.
