After a busy weekend today was slow and a half. Really glad Phil Mickelson won the Masters. The general consensus on him seems to be that he's a down to Earth guy who loves to play golf and fortunately was gifted with incredible skills for the game.
There've been some stories about him making big sports bets and not paying off his losses, but I've never seen him really being gone after by the media. And, if there's one thing everyone's learned, especially professional golfers, if there's blood in the water the media sharks will smell it and tear a perp to shreds. So, unless or until some hugely damaging story comes out, I'll just assume it's a rumor that's overblown.
That brings us back to Phil's talent for golf. His longtime weakness as a professional golfer is a tendency to miss short putts. That's cost him dearly over the years in opportunities and tournaments lost. In fact, he blew quite a few short ones over the weekend. The rest of his game was so overpowering though, it really didn't matter.
I heard Phil's caddy, Jim 'Bone's MacKay, interviewed after the event. They've been together 18 years. He said, in effect, he's become one of Phil's biggest fans and in tight tournament situations just does his job, keeps quiet and watches. Phil selects his own clubs, so once he's been told the yardage and studied the layout, he then hits the shot. According to Bones, Phil often hits shots when his ball is in trouble that are so incredibly good and so creative, he wouldn't know what club to tell him to hit anyway.
On the other side of the coin, when talking about Bones, Mickelson says he wouldn't know what to do without him, either. So, like Arnie Palmer and "Ironman" and Jack Nicklaus and his sons (several caddied for him over the later years), though golf's an individual sport, relying on someone you trust in difficult situations, even if it's only that they be there, can't do anything but help.
That's it for today folks.
Adios
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