Mickelson honors ailing Ballesteros

AUGUSTA -- As the reigning Masters champion, Phil Mickelson selected the menu for the annual champions dinner Tuesday night. The choice was Spanish cuisine, in honor of Seve Ballesteros. Ballesteros, who won the Masters in 1980 and 1983, is battling brain cancer and was not well enough to attend the tournament.

“I was 17 down at my first PGA Tour event at the San Diego Open and was able to get a practice round with him,” Mickelson said Tuesday. “Here’s a guy that I looked up to and watched the way he played, loved the way he played, was drawn in by his charisma, and he didn’t let me down at all. He was every bit the gentleman I thought he was and more.”

Mickelson said his wife’s recent bout with breast cancer made him mindful of how much a thoughtful action can mean.

“When Amy and I went through the most difficult time in her treatment, the players on tour did a lot of things for us to let us know they were thinking about us. And it really meant a lot,” Mickelson said. “It’s just that I want him to know we all wish he was here, we’re all thinking about him.”

Phil Mickelson has in recent golf tournaments either paid tribute or made someone's dream come true. As a sports fan, I find reading stories like this very refreshing and touching at the same time.* He never looks chiseled, never seems invincible, and—despite 38 PGA wins—has never been No. 1 in the world. He's been faulted for taking too long to win his first major (in his 12th year as a pro) and for making too many suicidal shots at critical moments. But throughout his nearly 20-year professional career, he has had the same caddie, the same manager, and the same wife. * Excerpt from Parade Magazine

Although Phil's success in golf has always been over shadowed by fellow golfer Tiger Woods, he has maintained a sense of humility about him. You could nearly call him the Lou Gehrig of golf by the way he's carried himself through the years, despite achieving success later then expected before winning his first tournament in his 12 year as a pro. Last year, as both his wife Amy and his mom Mary were recovering from breast cancer, Phil could've easily skipped the Masters and no one  would've faulted him for it. Both women are doing better and will hopefully have their cancers remain in remission for a long time. When Phil won last years Masters, he gave his wife Amy a most picturesque hug anyone had ever seen, showing the world he truly adores and loves his family without end amen.

In today's sports world Phil would be considered one of the most unique class acts golf has ever seen, and a man who isn't afraid to display his emotions at the appropriate times. I salute Phil for being a solid role model for young kids around the nation in his effortless manner.