Mickelson Wins Third Masters

Monday, 12 April 2010 | by Pat's Picks

Even though Tiger Woods dominated the coverage from the Masters, it was Phil Mickelson who pulled off “another epic back-nine display of the most daring golf” to win the tournament yesterday says the Augusta Chronicle.  After his win, he was joined by his wife Amy, who is battling breast cancer. Chronicle sports columnist Scott Michaux writes that it was the perfect ending to “a week when one family’s tabloid saga got upstaged in the end by another family’s storybook bond in the face of cancer.” USA Today says Woods finished five shots behind Mickelson, in fourth place. 

The presence of Amy Mickelson by her husband’s side seemed to have a big impact on the journalists covering the tournament. Bill Plaschke of the LA Times has an especially well-written piece in this morning’s paper. He writes of Mickelson’s win: “Having had its soul stained, the sport needed a heart tug, and Mickelson was it, from the moment he admitted this would be the first tournament attended by family since last May to the moment he choked up while thanking them in his victory speech.”

Mickelson’s win reminded me that I have a personal story about the golfer from a few years ago.