Rooting for Lefty: Mickelson sheds monkey at Masters

Forgive me. With all due respect to the older generation, I don't remember the '86 Masters. I wish I could've seen a 46-year-old Jack Nicklaus close with a back-nine 30 on Sunday to win his sixth green jacket. Unfortunately, I was three and my Lorax stuffed animal with his truffula tree was a lot cooler than an aging guy who wasn't my dad wearing funny plaid pants and a yellow polo shirt.

So, for me, Sunday's finish at Augusta capped the best Masters I have ever seen. It had everything — tradition, big names, young guns (Paul Casey and Sergio Garcia), throwback players (Bernhard Langer), and one of the best back-nine duels Augusta has hosted. This year also marked the 50th and final Masters appearance for the legendary Arnold Palmer, the man that brought golf to the American public. His last hole on Friday brought tears and joy to those who remember his playing days and even to those who don't. But with all due respect to Arnie, this Masters will be remembered for one image: Phil Mickelson picking up his daughter and saying, "Daddy won. Can you believe it?"

Because at that very moment, I'm not sure most of us watching did believe it. This is the same Phil Mickelson who had finished in the top-10 in a major 17 times without ever taking home the top prize, though he had won 22 other tournaments. And having held the title of Best Player Never to Win a Major for nearly a decade before Sunday's win, the press hounded him incessantly about his inability to produce under intense scrutiny.

This week, Mickelson answered his critics with smart, gutsy and heroic golf. Walking around with that goofy grin, Mickelson made his statement at just the moment when the entire golfing world thought he was about to "pull a Phil."

Lefty, as he is known to many, entered Sunday tied with Chris DiMarco for the lead at 6-under par. Looming just three shots back was world No. 3 Ernie Els. A three-time major winner himself, Els played one of the finest final rounds in Augusta's famed history. His eagle at the par-5 13th vaulted Els to 7-under and gave him a commanding three-shot lead. We had seen it all before. Mickelson was two-over on the day and in danger of letting another major slip through his fingers. A loss would've made him 0-for-43 as a professional.

I suppose we can just blame fate for the rest. Mickelson strode to the 12th hole, one of the most treacherous 150-yard par-3s in the world. For those of you unfamiliar with that section of Amen Corner, attacking the pin at No. 12 is tougher than robbing Fort Knox. It's just not something you try. Phil tried it. His approach shot landed about 15 feet above the hole, leaving a slippery downhill putt for birdie. When the ball dropped into the cup, bringing Lefty back to within two strokes of Els, the Augusta crowd exploded. Come on, Phil, we all thought in unison. This is your year.

Mickelson birdied the 13th, but he did so at almost the same moment that Els birdied the par-5 15th. Still a two-stroke advantage for Els. If Mickelson was going to take home the green jacket, he would have to earn it.

His approach shot on 14 almost gave me a heart attack. Standing 140 yards out, Phil launched a high short iron at the back-middle pin. With the ball still in the air, Mickelson mumbled under his breath, "Be right." It was. The break of the 14th green scooted the ball just over the edge of the cup as it came to rest a foot away. A tap-in birdie and Phil was within one. Come on, Phil, we started to say out loud. You got this.

An errant drive on 15 took away Mickelson's chance to go at the green in two, and with it a realistic shot at birdie. He made par.

The 16th hole is a par-3 that has more curves then Pamela Anderson. But the Sunday pin placement is such that a well-placed shot will funnel down toward the hole. There were two holes-in-one there on Sunday alone. Mickelson put his tee shot in a good spot, though not perfect — about 15 feet away with some right-to-left break. Come on Phil, drain this one. He did. Two holes to play, and we're tied.

Els, meanwhile, finished par-par-par for a 5-under 67. But now all eyes were fixed on Phil. After coming up short so often, two holes separated Phil from destiny. A solid par on 17 chased Els out to the practice green to warm up for a possible playoff.

Then, Mickelson did something that few golf fans can ever remember him doing. He put the driver away and brought out the 3-wood. One of the main criticisms of Phil's game has been his inability to make the smart, conservative play. He was always a grip-it-and-rip-it player. Not this time. Mickelson split the fairway, leaving himself 162 yards in. If he was to win in regulation, he had to make birdie. Only three other men in history had won the masters with a birdie on 18, the most recent coming in 1998 when Mark O'Meara did it.

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Mickelson's approach landed just shy of the hole and released, leaving Lefty an 18-foot, downhill putt with right-to-left break.

When that putt was two feet from the cup I thought he had missed it. I thought he hadn't left the ball out far enough and it was going to slide by on the low side. And maybe it really was going to miss the cup until fate pulled it back. The ball looped around the left side of the hole before dropping in the back.

Mickelson leapt in elation, and America joined him. On his way to the scorers' tent, Lefty hugged his wife and daughters as grown men across the country held back tears.

This was Phil Mickelson, finally winning a major, finally getting the monkey (and the press) off his back. We cheered for many reasons — he was the perennial also-ran; a great guy with a great game who just couldn't put it together to win the Big One. We ached every time he lost and had almost resigned ourselves to aching forever.

But then Phil came along with a back-nine 31 and gave me the best Masters I have ever seen.