O'Meara: Royal Birkdale will always be special to me

As the last Royal Birkdale Open champion, MARK O’MEARA will defend the title he won in 1998 when the Open Championship returns to the Southport links for the first time in a decade next July. Daily Post golf writer Trevor Peake caught up with the popular American for an exclusive interview in Morocco, when he crossed the Atlantic to play in the Hassan II Trophy

HAVING turned 50 last January, Mark O’Meara has played most of his golf on the senior Champions Tour in America this year.

But he loves to play links golf and, as a past champion, the Open will always be a part of his schedule.

“I’m really looking forward to it. It’s a great challenge,” said O’Meara.

“Birkdale obviously has a very special place in my heart of all the Open Championship venues.

“The Open is played on firm courses and with the winds playing a part, which dictates how the players are going to play. It’s a sort of golf I really love to play.

“It’s well known that I’m very fond of golf in Ireland and I also find all the Open courses a great test of golf.

“I’m proud that I made the cut at Carnoustie this year and played relatively decent to finish runner-up at Muirfield in the British Senior Open. But to go back to a place where I won my favourite major will be very special.

“And it will be the first time I have been back since 1998.

“In my previous Birkdale Open in 1991 I was paired in the last round with Ian Baker-Finch. Finchy played as good a round of golf on the front side as I’ve ever seen anybody play and went on to win the Open Championship.

“I finished third and then when I came back in 1998, having become the Masters champion earlier that year, winning in the play-off at Birkdale against Brian Watts was just great.”

O’Meara and Watts, a little known American who played mainly in Japan, tied on level-par 280 after four rounds of the 127th Open Championship 10 years ago, just a stroke ahead of O’Meara’s great friend, one Tiger Woods, who then had yet to win the oldest major championship.

In April that year O’Meara, by then aged 41, had won his first major, the 1998 US Masters at Augusta, and he mastered the tricky conditions on the final day at Birkdale with a two-under-par 68, to catch Watts, who closed with a level-par 70.

Leading the Open on the Saturday night, Watts later said: “I had dinner in a Chinese restaurant in Southport that night and nobody recognised me. Nobody knew who I was and I was leading the tournament.”

O’Meara birdied the first of the four play-off holes to take a lead he would never lose to clinch the championship.

He finished at one under par with Watts at one over, and his second major in his 17-year professional career had arrived within months of his first.

“My strongest memory of the week 10 years ago is probably from the Saturday on the sixth hole,” said O’Meara. “That was the biggest turn around.”

“I hit my driver off the tee, then a driver off the fairway and hit it way right and it looked like I might have a lost ball.

“We started to search for it and after a few minutes I was about to walk back, when my caddie, who at the time was Jerry Higginbotham, heard that a guy had picked it up.

“We finally got him to confess that he had it in his pocket and I was able to play it from where he had picked it up, instead of declaring it lost and having to go back and play another ball.”

At the time O’Meara said: “There was a lot of miscommunication.

“The USGA was on the radio. The R&A was on the radio. It was like Watergate, nobody would make the call.

“I made bogey but it could have been a double or a triple bogey, so that was a big turning point, that sixth hole there on the Saturday”

After winning the play-off O’Meara was asked if winning two majors gave him a place in history.

“No,” he answered. “I think I’m a very nice player, a good player, but I don’t classify myself as great. Jack Nicklaus, Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan. Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, those are great golfers.”

Playing on the senior tour in the States, O’Meara restricts his appearances to about 20 tournaments a year worldwide, spending much of his time back home in Windermere in Florida with his wife Alicia and their two children Michelle, 20, and 18-year- old Shaun.

He says: “I have my replica of the claret jug at home, right next to the Masters trophy and the US Amateur Trophy, three of my proudest achievements in the game of golf.

“But to know that I’m a former Open champion is very, very special.”

O’Meara’s fond memories of Birkdale stretch even further back than when he finished third in 1991.

“I also won the Lawrence Batley tournament there in 1989, so some very positive things have happened to me on that links course,” he added.

“To come back to what I think is the greatest championship in the world 10 years after winning it will be really something for me.”

O’Meara was seven strokes behind joint leaders Woods and another fellow American John Houston after opening with a 72 in 1998.

Watts added a 69 to his opening 68 on the second day to take a one-stroke lead over Woods (73) and Zimbabwe’s Nick Price (66-72) at the halfway stage, with O’Meara in a group on 140, three off the pace.

With winds gusting at 40mph on the third day, Watts posted a 73 to lead O’Meara, who shot 72, by two strokes going into the final round with Woods blowing up to a 77, Price and 1997 Open champion Jason Leonard shooting 82s and Phil Mickelson an 85.

Woods hit back with a 66 on the final day but couldn’t quite catch O’Meara and Watts and the US Ryder Cup player beat his unknown countryman to lift the Claret Jug in the early evening on July 19, 1998.

Will such high drama be in prospect on a July evening next year?

Herron Captures Colonial After Playoff

Tim Herron wanted to treat the final round of the Colonial as if he were a member playing a Sunday afternoon round.
While it looked exactly like that at times, the player affectionally known as "Lumpy" won on the PGA Tour for the first time in seven years. He beat Richard Johnson with a birdie on the second hole of a playoff, the first time since 1994 extra holes were needed at Hogan's Alley.
"This winning thing isn't that easy," Herron said after his winning 9 1/2-foot birdie putt on the 382-yard 17th hole.
It was Herron's first win since Bay Hill in 1999. He gets the winner's plaid jacket and $1.08 million - more than what he got for his three previous wins combined.
Herron (2-under 68) and Johnson (67), who ended regulation tied at 12-under 268, both had long drives on the first playoff hole and had to settle for two-putt pars. They then went to No. 17, where after similar drives Johnson's approach was 25 feet short of the hole.
Johnson had birdies on the same two par 4s to finish regulation. He trailed Herron by three strokes after three-putting the 188-yard 16th hole for a bogey. But Herron couldn't close it out, and had to scramble to stay in the lead.
"I thought I was out of it," Johnson said. "I had no idea what was going on behind me."
Rod Pampling, who won at Bay Hill in March and was in the final group with Herron, had his second straight even-par round since his career-best 63 Friday. He finished alone in third, two strokes back.
Stephen Ames (63), with an incredible comeback after faltering in the third round, and Ben Crane (64) tied for fourth at 271 with Brett Quigley (66), Arron Oberholser (67), Stewart Cink (68), Peter Lonard (70) and Nathan Green (70).
Johnson was 10 under when he three-putted on No. 16, his third bogey in a round with six birdies.
A group behind, Herron was 13 under after a par at No. 15, where Pampling dropped out of a share of the lead with a double bogey. That was one of only three greens he missed, his approach going wide right and through a cart path before settling in a grass clump under a bush against a fence. He sculled that shot over and through the green.
Johnson hit his approach at No. 17 to 28 feet and made the birdie.
Herron then put his tee shot at No. 16 in the front greenside bunker, and blasted to 16 feet. But he was unable to save par and dropped to 12 under.
At No. 17, Herron hit his tee shot right and his approach left. While Johnson was making a 6-foot birdie on the closing hole, Herron saved par with a clutch 12-foot putt.
Herron missed the green again at No. 18, but chipped to 9 feet and saved par.
Even though Herron had three birdies his first four holes Sunday, he did so with some interesting plays.
After missing the fairway at the 563-yard No. 1 hole, he had a 37-yard birdie putt. At No. 3, he saved par with a blast out of the back bunker, where his second shot went after he drove well right under the trees at the 467-yard left dogleg. He hit made a 10-foot birdie at the 252-yard par-3 4th.
Herron got a members-like break at No. 5, the course's toughest hole. His tee shot was well right and headed toward the Trinity River, when it hit a tree and bounced back into the fairway. He saved par.
Green was 12 under when his approach at the 408-yard No. 9 landed in the pond that fronts the green. He took a drop and wound up with double bogey.
It was Green's best finish since getting into a playoff against Tiger Woods and Jose Maria Olazabal in January at the Buick Invitational. He hadn't been better than 33rd since, missing four of 10 cuts.
Players Championship winner Ames got off to a much better start Sunday with a 38-foot eagle putt at the 563-yard No. 1, and went on to a bogey-free 63.
When Ames started the third round in the last group and only a stroke out of the lead after rounds of 65 and 66, he had a triple bogey on Colonial's easiest hole and went on to a 77 Saturday. That matched the worst score of the day and dropped him into a tie for 38th place.
"It made up yesterday and that was nice. It was two complete opposites. It was unfortunate and I was disgusted with the way I played yesterday," Ames said. "But it's part of the learning curve. ... I look at it as a missed opportunity."
Defending champion Kenny Perry, who won by wide margins in 2003 and 2005 with record scores of 19 under, finished at 277 after a round of 71. It was just his second tournament since right knee surgery in March, when he didn't even get to play at Bay Hill as defending champion.
Divots: Ryan Moore, in his first tournament since hand surgery seven weeks ago, finished at 283 after a 70 Sunday. ... Two-time Colonial champion Ben Crenshaw, at 54 the second-oldest player to make the cut at Colonial, finished at 285. It was his only non-Champions Tour event other than the Masters.

20 fun U.S. Open facts

1. With the addition of sectional qualifying tournaments in England and Japan, last year was the first time that participants could qualify for the U.S. Open without entering the country. It didn't take long for the rule to have a major impact — 2005 champion Michael Campbell was one of nine players to qualify from the England site. "It's highly unlikely he would have traveled all the way to the States for a qualifier," said USGA executive director David Fay in an e-mail to the Honolulu Advertiser.
2. Not everyone needs to qualify for the U.S. Open through local or sectional tournaments — there are 17 ways to earn an exemption. Some are obvious — the 10 previous U.S. Open winners and anyone who has won a major title in the past five years; the 15 lowest scores (and ties) from the previous U.S. Open, the top 30 on last year's money list and the top 50 in the world rankings. Also exempt are the top two money makers on the Japan Golf Tour and the PGA Tour of Australasia.
3. Who wants to be a millionaire? Anyone who wins the U.S. Open automatically qualifies. Michael Campbell earned $1,170,000 for his upset win last year, up from the $1,125,000 Retief Goosen won in 2004. How does this compare to other sports? Last year's U.S. Open tennis champions earned $1,100,000, though the most recent World Series of Poker champion collected $7,500,000.
4. The U.S. Open comes from rather inauspicious beginnings. The first tournament in 1895 was played on a nine-hole course at Newport (R.I.) Golf and Country Club, and was pushed back a month because of a scheduling conflict with the America's Cup yachting races. There were 11 entrants and it was held in just one day — golfers went around the Newport course four times in a row. Horace Rawlins was the winner.
5. Back-to-back wins by international golfers the last two years harkens back to the tournament's roots. No native-born American won the title in the first 16 years of the U.S. Open's existence. It wasn't until John J. McDermott of Atlantic City won a three-way playoff in 1911 that the streak was broken. McDermott successfully defended his title the next year, when he officially became the first player to break par over 72 holes.
6. While Michael Campbell's win last year was certainly shocking (it was his first PGA Tour victory), nothing compares with the feat pulled off by amateur Francis Ouimet in 1913. Ouimet, a 20-year-old playing on the same Brookline, Mass., course where he had caddied, defeated respected English professionals Ted Ray and Harry Varden in a playoff in his first U.S. Open. Ouimet never turned professional, but that upset was popularized by the recent Disney movie "The Greatest Game Ever Played."
7. The greatest fourth-round comeback was pulled off by Arnold Palmer, who overcame a seven-stroke deficit to win by two over Jack Nicklaus in 1960. Palmer's final-round 65 was illustrated by his tee shot on the par-4 first, when he hit his drive almost 300 yards to the green and made the first of four straight birdies. Incidentally, Palmer also won the Masters that year by birdieing the final two holes to beat Ken Venturi by a stroke.
8. Though Nicklaus was two shots behind Palmer in 1960, his score of 282 was the lowest 72-hole score posted by an amateur, and the best finish by an amateur in more than 50 years (the next-best was James Simons, who shot a 283 and tied for fifth in 1971). The last of five amateur winners was John Goodman in 1933, who followed in the footsteps of the Francis Ouimet, Jerome D. Travers, Charles Evans Jr., and the most famous of all, four-time champion Bobby Jones.
9. Four players have won four U.S. Open titles — Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Willie Anderson, a former pro at the Apawamis Club in Rye. Anderson, who won his four titles in a five-year span (1901, 1903-05), won the last three playing under the Apawamis name. He later won the club championship there six times from 1911-20. When Anderson was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame, former Apawamis caddie Gene Sarazen gave the speech.
10. Anderson isn't the only local product to win the Open. Johnny Farrell — who won the 1928 title by one stroke in a 36-hole playoff against Bobby Jones — was the head pro at Quaker Ridge Golf Club in Scarsdale from 1919-30. Farrell won seven tournaments in a row in 1927, a streak that slots him between Byron Nelson's 11 straight titles in 1945 and Ben Hogan's six straight in 1948.
11. The most consistent play in a victory belongs to Lee Janzen, who in 1993 became the only golfer to shoot under 70 in all four rounds at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J. Janzen's total of 272 included two 67s and two 69s, leaving him 8-under. Janzen's tally was also the lowest score in U.S. Open history, a mark that ties him with Jack Nicklaus in 1980 (also at Baltusrol), Tiger Woods in 2000 and Jim Furyk in 2003.
12. The 2002 tournament at Bethpage State Park in Long Island was historic for two reasons — it was the first time the U.S. Open was held on a public-owned facility, and it was the first time a two-tee start was used in the first two rounds. Fred Ridley, the championship committee chairman at the time, said the two-tee start would add two more hours of daylight and allow for flexibility in case of bad weather.
13. Bobby Jones and Jack Nicklaus are most celebrated for their four U.S. Open titles, tied for the most all-time. But Jones and Nicklaus are also tied for the most runner-up finishes, also with four. While they would most likely not be happy with that honor (Nicklaus, after posting the lowest-ever score by an amateur in 1960, said: "Nobody ever remembers who finished second at anything"), they certainly have good company — Sam Snead and Arnold Palmer were also four-time runners-up.
14. It's hard to believe that the 1896 U.S. Open was played on a Shinnecock Hills course that measured only 4,423 yards. That was practically the distance of just the front nine on the 7,214-yard Black Course at Bethpage State Park, where the 2002 event was played. A year before, golfers faced the longest hole, the 642-yard No. 5 at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Okla.
15. The worst hole ever played belongs to Ray Ainsley. It started when he sent his ball into a creek on the par-4 16th at Cherry Hills in 1938. It's unclear whether he was stubborn, or just unaware of the drop rule — in any case, he kept swinging at the ball while it floated down the stream, and by the time his ball was safely in the hole, he had posted a 19, the highest score ever in the tournament.
16. The back-to-back wins by South Africa's Retief Goosen and New Zealand's Michael Campbell made 2004-05 the first time since 1924-25 that international champions won consecutive Opens. International players won 21 times from 1895-1927, but only eight times since (five times by South Africans Gary Player, Ernie Els and Retief Goosen). While Scottish golfers won 12 times in the first 16 years, they haven't won since Tommy Armour in 1927.
17. As unlikely a champion as Michael Campbell was (he hadn't won a tournament in three years before earning the 2005 Open title), don't count on him replicating his feat. The last player to successfully defend his championship was Curtis Strange in 1989 at the age of 34. Remarkably, Strange never won another PGA tournament. On the other hand, the last winner to miss the cut the following year was Retief Goosen in 2002.
18. The best career comeback story might belong to Steve Jones. After suffering ligament and joint damage to his left ring finger due to a 1991 dirt-bike accident, Jones took almost three years off and needed to go through sectional qualifying to compete in the 1996 U.S. Open. He made it through and eventually won the title by a stroke over Tom Lehman and Davis Love III, becoming the first winner to come through sectional qualifying since Jerry Pate in 1976.
19. The least competitive finish came in 2000, when Tiger Woods won by 15 strokes with a 12-under 272 at Pebble Beach. (The previous record for a major championship belonged to Old Tom Morris, who won the 1862 British Open by 13 strokes.) Two years later, Woods also became the first champion to lead from start to finish, without even being tied after any round, though when it was over he had defeated Phil Mickelson by only three shots
20. It isn't exactly "Dewey Defeats Truman," but NBC signed off on its one-hour coverage in 1955 by announcing that Ben Hogan had won his fifth U.S. Open title. It would have been a record, and it was the result everyone was expecting, since the only other contender was unknown club pro Jack Fleck. But Fleck, using clubs made by the Ben Hogan Golf Company, birdied 18 to force a playoff, and then defeated Hogan 69-72 the next day to complete the monumental upset.

Nelson, Picard selected for World Golf Hall of Fame

Larry Nelson, overlooked as a Ryder Cup captain and often forgotten despite his remarkable journey from Vietnam War veteran to three-time major champion, finally got his due Wednesday when he was elected into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
"Of all the awards, nothing can top this," Nelson said.
Nelson was elected on the PGA Tour ballot by getting 65% of the vote, the minimum required.
He will be inducted Oct. 30 at the World Golf Village in St. Augustine, Fla., along with the late Henry Picard, selected through the veteran's category; and Vijay Singh, who deferred his induction after being elected last year. That will bring membership in the Hall of Fame to 112.
Nelson's election came in his 11th year on the PGA Tour ballot, and in many respects, it was overdue.
He won the PGA Championship twice and the 1983 U.S. Open at Oakmont, joining Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson and Seve Ballesteros as the only players to capture three majors in the 1980s. Nelson played on three Ryder Cup teams, posting a 9-3-1 record and becoming the only player to go 5-0 in a Ryder Cup.
But he was passed over as U.S. captain the last four times, with the PGA of America opting for Tom Lehman for this year's matches.
"This honor is so far greater than that," Nelson said. "I don't relate the two things. This has to do with my career. The Ryder Cup captain has to do with three or four people deciding who does that for the year."
Picard, who died in 1997, won 20 times on the PGA Tour, including the 1938 Masters and the 1939 PGA Championship. He later became a teacher, with Hall of Famer Beth Daniel among his pupils.
No one was elected from the International ballot, with Jumbo Ozaki heading the list with 46% of the vote. An inductee from the Lifetime Achievement category is expected later this spring.
Nelson was informed of his election three weeks ago, and even for a man who went about his golf so quietly, it was difficult for him to keep this a secret until the announcement at the Legends of Golf tournament in Savannah, Ga.
His road to the Hall of Fame is unlike any other.
Nelson's joy was baseball as a kid, and he thought golf was a sissy sport until he met a burly soldier in Vietnam named Ken Hummel who told him about guys making a living playing golf. Returning from the war, Nelson went to Kennesaw Junior College in Georgia and decided to play golf when he wasn't in class.
He was given Ben Hogan's book, "Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf," as a guide, and was encouraged by members at Pine Tree Country Club, where he worked, to try the mini-tours.
"I fell in love with it and got better every day," Nelson said. "I was always put in a situation where everyone was better than I was. My motivation was getting better and feeding my family."
He broke 100 the first time he played, and made it through PGA Tour qualifying school in 1973. Six years later, he won the Jackie Gleason Inverrary Classic by three shots over Grier Jones, then won his first major in 1981 by four shots over Fuzzy Zoeller at Atlanta Athletic Club.
His defining victory might have been the U.S. Open at Oakmont in 1983, when he beat Watson by one shot. Nelson added the '87 PGA Championship at PGA National, beating Lanny Wadkins in a playoff. He ended his career with 10 victories.
"Until I get in front of everyone in St. Augustine will it actually feel it's real," Nelson said. "I'm living in a dream world right now."
What touched him the most Wednesday was a group of Hall of Famers who attended the announcement, such as Hale Irwin, Tom Kite, Charlie Sifford, Tony Jacklin and Carol Mann.
"I don't know of too many people who feel they deserve to be in there," Nelson said. "To get the 'welcome' from guys who have accomplished a lot more than you have ... it's like winning another major, as far as I'm concerned."
Picard won the '38 Masters with a 32 on the front nine, holding off Harry "Lighthorse" Cooper and Ralph Guldahl, then won the PGA a year later with a birdie on the 36th hole to square his match with Byron Nelson, and a birdie on the first hole to win.
"Henry Picard was one of the country's brightest stars in the decade leading up to World War II, where his victory total compares favorably to the likes of Sam Snead during that span," PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said.
The voting body for the World Golf Hall of Fame consists of Hall of Fame members, golf writers and historians, the World Golf Foundation board of directors and members of the Hall of Fame's advisory board.
The Hall of Fame does not disclose vote totals, only percentages.
While he was selected through the veteran's category, Picard received 53% of the vote on the PGA Tour ballot. Two-time U.S. Open champion Curtis Strange received 50%, followed by Craig Wood at 37%.

Golf-No women likely at British Open

The chances of Michelle Wie and other women playing in this year's British Open Golf Championship for the first time have faded almost to nil.
With the LPGA Tour's Women's World Matchplay event starting on July 6 in the U.S. and regional qualifying for the British Open scheduled for July 5 there will be no eligible women players trying to qualify for the men's major.
The Royal and Ancient Club, which runs the championship, agreed last year to allow women to play if they qualified.
There was a potential for 20 women professionals to take up their British Open regional qualifying entries this year with the top five finishers from the four women's majors eligible.
But the Royal and Ancient said on Tuesday at a Championship preview meeting that all the potential qualifiers had committed themselves to the Women's World Matchplay.
R and A chief executive Peter Dawson said: "The deadline for entries for qualifying is June 1 but as yet, no women players have entered.
"It is still possible we will get women entries and I personally very much hope we will. When we devised the dates for qualifying there was no LPGA event around that week."
Teenager Wie, who has been offered a sponsor's invitation for the men's John Deere Classic the week before the British Open takes place from July 20-23 at Royal Liverpool, Hoylake, could conceivably make the starting line-up.
But she would only qualify from that US PGA Tour event as the highest finisher not otherwise already exempt for the Open.
That is an unlikely scenario since despite her huge talent Wie has still to make the cut in any men's event she has played.
For the men qualifiers, Dawson said on Tuesday that local final qualifying will this year take place the on the Monday and Tuesday (July 10/11) the week before the British Open instead of the Sunday and Monday of the same week.
"It allows the qualifiers the same chance to practise on an Open course as the players already exempt, instead of them having to dash over from local final qualifying.
"It was all a bit of a scramble and now this creates a level playing field."

Mickelson uses the force in his quest for greatness

TEN days before the start of the US Masters, Phil Mickelson went to Augusta National Golf Club to practise. He had two coaches with him, the taller Dave Pelz and the shorter Rick Smith, a kind of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda tandem to Mickelson's Luke Skywalker.
The threesome - as they have now done on three occasions - created the strategy that helped Mickelson win a major championship, a two-shot victory on Sunday at the Masters that seemed to portend more of the same.
"I couldn't have done this by myself," Mickelson said after winning his second green jacket. "To have the help from Dave Pelz and Rick Smith, it has really given me the guidance. When I do spend time practising, I'm spending it on the right things to help me prepare my best and play my best."
For someone once viewed as a talented player who tinkered too much with his game and took too many chances, Mickelson has confirmed his status as one of the best players of the era, even if he still has a little mad scientist in him.
When he came to the BellSouth Classic near Atlanta the week before the Masters, his decision to carry two drivers - each imparting different ball flights - seemed to be part harebrained scheme and part marketing ploy. Then he won the tournament by 13 strokes.
When Mickelson followed with his second Masters title in three years, he had the look of a golfer in perfect rhythm. Pelz had helped Mickelson with his short game, and Smith his long game. Mickelson's decision to choose drivers according to the shape and length of a hole seemed inspired.
"Last week, what he did was incredible," Fred Couples said of Mickelson's margin of victory at the BellSouth Classic. "Then coming in here to shoot the scores that he did, extremely consistent on a very tough course. He's a much better player than he was when he first started winning these majors."
Mickelson could get better. Although great things have been predicted for Tiger Woods in his 30s, Mickelson has already become the epitome of golf maturation in that decade. He had no majors in his 20s but, at 35, he has three.
Mickelson has 29 PGA Tour victories, joining Lee Trevino, Gene Littler and Paul Runyan (Woods has 48). With the Masters victory, he moved from the fourth-ranked player in the world to No.2, behind Woods and ahead of Vijay Singh.
Mickelson was asked if he was ready to embrace talk of either winning four majors in one year - the grand slam - or winning four in a row after his two straight at the PGA Championship last year and the Masters. Woods was the last player to win four in a row, accomplishing it in 2000-01, and Bobby Jones won the grand slam in 1930. "Let's settle down grand slam talk and stuff," Mickelson said. "To hold the Tiger Slam, all four majors? Incredible. That's just one of the most incredible feats in the game, that, and Bobby Jones's grand slam."
Mickelson said he would start preparing immediately for the next major championship - the US Open at Winged Foot Golf Club in June - but he left a discussion of his place in golf history to others.
After the PGA Championship, Smith described how several players had won a single major, and that Mickelson had reached a new plateau. Mickelson's latest title brings him to another level, closer to Woods, who has 10 majors, and tying him with Singh and Ernie Els. "As much as I want to be a part of the history of the tournament and a part of the history of the great game of golf, it's not something I dwell on," Mickelson said. "I just try to play well and compete and hopefully win as many as I can."

Why Are Masters Champions Presented with a Green Jacket?

Each year, the winner of The Masters is presented with the famous "Green Jacket." Slipping on the green jacket is the golden moment for many winners of the tournament. But how did a green jacket come to be such a big deal? What is the story behind the vaunted Green Jacket?

Let's face it: if you saw someone walking around in public in a shamrock green jacket, you'd probably think that person was severely fashion-challenged. Shamrock green jackets are, well, ugly.
But the Green Jacket presented to the Masters champion is one beautiful piece of outerwear. The tradition of the Green Jacket at Augusta National Golf Club dates to 1937. That year, members of the club wore green jackets during the tournament so that fans in attendance could easily spot them if they needed to ask questions.
According to the official website of The Masters:
"Jackets were purchased from the Brooks Uniform Company, New York City ... Members were not initially enthusiastic about wearing the warm, green coat. Within several years, a lightweight, made-to-order Jacket was available from the Club's Golf Shop.

The single breasted, single vent Jacket's color is 'Masters Green' and is adorned with an Augusta National Golf Club logo on the left chest pocket. The logo also appears on the brass buttons."
Soon, the Green Jacket became the symbol of membership in the ultra-exclusive Augusta National Golf Club. And slipping a jacket onto the winner of The Masters - a tradition that began in 1949 - symbolized that golfer's entry into the exclusive club of Masters champions.

Not your father's, or Jack's, Augusta anymore

When Bobby Jones saw the young Jack Nicklaus, he said the Golden Bear played "a game with which I am not familiar."
If Jones came back from the grave this week for the Masters, he might say Augusta National Golf Club is a course with which he is not familiar ... and he, along with legendary designer Alistair MacKenzie, created the jewel in the Georgia pines.
The Green Jackets at Augusta National have twice lengthened the course in the last five years in an effort to keep up with technology and the strength of the modern golfer.
"I know what Augusta is trying to do," Nicklaus told reporters a few weeks ago. "Whether they've gone overboard, I'm not sure. But they've eliminated a lot of guys. ...
"Could Tiger (Woods) do (what it will take to win on the revamped course)? Or Ernie Els or Vijay Singh? Yes. Could Mike Weir or Jose Maria Olazabal -- one of those guys of moderate length -- could they do that? Probably not.
"That's the change at Augusta I have a hard time with."
When told at the Bay Hill Invitational of those comments and that Nicklaus believes only 10 or 12 players are capable of winning the Masters on the longer course, Woods said: "I agree."
Since Augusta lengthened the course by almost 300 yards in 2002, Woods has won twice, including last year, and Phil Mickelson claimed the title in 2004.
Weir, who won in 2003, showed a medium-length hitter could still win, but that was before 155 more yards were added on six holes -- this time without the previous changes having had a chance to be truly evaluated.
Augusta National will measure 7,445 yards this week, the second longest in major championship history behind only the 7,536-yard test at Whistling Straits in the 2004 PGA Championship, won by Vijay Singh.
As soon as the changes were announced, there was a dissenting voice. And it wasn't Martha Burk's.
"We have yet to have it hard and dry and fast for the entire week (since the 2002 changes)," Woods said, adding that the speed and subtleties of the greens, not to mention difficult pin positions, are plenty of defense for the course. "If we do, with these new tee locations, it's more likely over par will win.
"We used to see all the old footage of guys making shoulder turns on four-footers. Nowadays, you just need to breathe on it and it's going to roll quite a bit. I don't quite understand it because since they changed it in 2002, we have yet to have a dry week."
If it rains again, that plays even more into the sluggers' hands.
In addition to Woods, count the rest of the Big Five — Singh, Els, Mickelson and Retief Goosen — among those on Nicklaus' short list of title contenders.
Others, based on length off the tee and resume, would probably include Davis Love III, Sergio Garcia, Fred Couples, John Daly, Adam Scott, Padraig Harrington and Darren Clarke.
A long shot would be up-and-coming Henrik Stenson of Sweden.
Woods, who could move to within one of Nicklaus' record of six Masters titles with a victory this week, was serious when he said he might skip the tournament if his father's battle with cancer dictates.
However, expect the best player on the planet to drive down Magnolia Lane unless Earl Woods' condition takes a turn for the worse.
When Tiger showed up in California on the eve of the Players Championship, the former Green Beret lieutenant colonel barked at his son, "What the hell are you doing here?"
Remember, the old man started priming him for this when Tiger was a cub.
"We're taking it day-by-day," Woods said after the Players Championship, adding that he would not make another trip to Augusta before the Masters. "I've already been up there, so I don't have to worry about it. I've already prepared, seen it."
What he saw was that Augusta National is altering three holes on each nine — Nos. 1, 4 and 7 on the front and Nos. 11, 15 and 17 on the back.
The par-3 fourth hole has been lengthened to about 240 yards, with the tee moved back 30 to 35 yards.
"That hole is already hard enough, so I don't know why they'd change it," Nicklaus said.
The 11th hole, the beginning of storied "Amen Corner," will become the first par-4 hole in Masters history that will play longer than 500 yards. With the tee moved back 10 to 15 yards, the hole measures about 505.
The other changes include:
Moving the tee on No. 1 back 15 to 20 yards, stretching the par-4 hole to 455 yards. In addition, trees have been added to the left side of the fairway to require more accuracy with the driver.
The seventh hole was lengthened by 35 to 40 yards, making the par 4 play to 450 yards. Additionally, the green has been altered to create a possible right-rear pin position, while trees were added along both sides of the fairway.
Said Nicklaus of the alteration at No. 7: "That green is not made to accept three- or five-iron approaches. It's made to accept a wedge."
The par-5 15th hole was lengthened to 530 yards by a new tee 25 to 30 yards farther back and approximately 20 yards to the left.
The tee box on No. 17, once a breather coming home, has been moved back 10 to 15 yards, lengthening the par-four hole to about 440.
"They've changed the nature of the golf course," Nicklaus said. "Bobby Jones wanted a second-shot golf course. He loved St. Andrews and that style of golfing, second-shot golf courses. I think the concept of (Augusta) has changed greatly. It's looking more like a U.S. Open golf course than a Masters golf course.
"I love Augusta. Don't get me wrong. All I want is for Augusta to be Augusta, because it's such a great tournament. But when you take a golf course and limit the number of people that have the ability to win ...
"Their intention is not to do that. But they're doing that."
Masters officials would like Arnold Palmer, who won four titles at Augusta, to become an honorary starter the way Gene Sazazen, Sam Snead and Byron Nelson were for years.
As of yet, Palmer has not accepted, and perhaps the changing nature of the course has something to do with it. He also weighed in on the subject recently, and he sides with Nicklaus.
"I love the place, but now I'm not so sure," Palmer said. "There are some things that are taking the realistic Augusta away. It's changed dramatically from the course I've known the last 50 years."
No disrespect intended toward the classic courses that host the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship, but the Masters and Augusta National are supposed to be unique.
It seems they are trying to make Augusta into Whistling Straits or Bethpage Black.

Mickelson looks poised to successfully defend his title

It’s all about your agenda. Do you want to win a golf tournament or just prepare for one? No question there’s heavy highlighter -- green, probably -- on everyone’s calendar for the first full week of April. That’s Masters Week, the first major of the season, the annual rite of Spring that makes Spring so right in the golf world. But PGA TOUR players look ahead at their own peril. The $5.3 million BellSouth Classic begins Thursday at TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth, Ga., a couple of miles west of Augusta. First prize is $954,000 -- a lot of green that can buy any color jacket you want. If anyone doubts that this Atlanta area stop, in its 38th year, isn’t special, just check the roll of champions, which includes Jack Nicklaus, Hale Irwin, Tom Watson, Larry Nelson and Tom Kite among the old guard. More recent title holders: John Daly, Tiger Woods, David Duval, Retief Goosen and defending champion Phil Mickelson. Sure, the majors club is nice, but reputations are nothing but enhanced in this fraternity, too. No sense preparing for the next big thing when living large will pay off in the present. It’s all about your agenda. Last year: Phil Mickelson won his second BellSouth Classic title by surviving a five-man playoff, the first in nine years, as the PGA TOUR completed its second straight tournament on a Monday -- with regulation ending after 54 holes because of inclement weather. Mickelson poured in a 20-foot birdie putt on the fourth extra hole to defeat Rich Beem. Brandt Jobe, Arjun Atwal, and Jose Maria Olazabal were eliminated earlier in the playoff after the five men completed 54 holes in 8-under-par 208. How he did it: Mickelson’s all-around game wasn’t particularly sharp, but he took advantage of his birdie chances, converting 16, third most in the field, and posting the fifth best putting average after hitting the green in regulation. He also got a little lucky as Olazabal missed short birdie chances on the final hole of regulation and in the playoff. Strange but true: Three of the last five winners of the BellSouth Classic – Scott McCarron, Ben Crane and Zach Johnson – didn’t ride that victorious momentum into Augusta National Golf Club the following week. Fact is, they couldn’t, having not qualified for the Masters Tournament. True but not so strange: Mickelson is the only player in PGA TOUR history to win twice in a calendar year in Atlanta, the 2000 BellSouth Classic and THE TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club. If the course could talk: “Chipping and putting impress me more than anything else. And that could be good preparation for that older cousin of mine down the street the following week.” Worth knowing: • Davis Love III decided he wasn’t going to sleep on that second-round 83 at THE PLAYERS Championship until he gets to Augusta National Golf Club. Love was a late addition to the field for this week’s BellSouth Classic, where he hasn’t played since missing the cut in 2002. His record at TPC Sugarloaf also includes ties for seventh and 11th. • Count a refocused and recommitted Joe Durant among the latest to enlist the teaching services of Bryan Mogg, who recently took on Charles Howell III as a client. • Hale Irwin remains the only back-to-back winner of the BellSouth Classic winning in 1975 and ’77 (the ’76 event was pre-empted for the U.S. Open at nearby Atlanta Athletic Club), but Mickelson might be a good bet to join him with his two wins and third place finish in ’02. • Duluth resident Stewart Cink has six top-10 finishes and has made the cut in eight of 10 starts near his home course. • Since New Zealander Bob Charles won the first Atlanta stop in 1967, only two foreign-born players have won in the 36-year tournament history: Goosen, from South Africa, and Canada’s Dave Barr in 1987. Internationals have won six of 13 events this year, including four of the last five. TOUR Insider’s strength of field index: Some guys know an opportunity when the see it. 7.6. TI’s power ranking for the BellSouth Classic: 1. Phil Mickelson, 2. Ben Crane, 3. Stewart Cink, 4. Retief Goosen, 5. Scott McCarron. Parting shot: “Bloody hell, are you wearing green underwear?” -- Nick Faldo to a reporter after fielding a question about Augusta National Golf Club just minutes after the Englishman and three-time Masters champion missed the cut in THE PLAYERS Championship.