Mickelson’s Miracle Masters moment
‘‘Play it again, Phil,’’ shouted an Augusta patron, but no one could have played that shot again, not even the Mickelodeon himself, who at the grand, ol’ age of 49, just two months shy of his half century, became the oldest winner of a major. It was the one shot that changed everything, the shot heard round the world.
Just a few minutes before it had seemed that Mickelson’s dream of winning his fourth green jacket was just another far-fetched fancy as he came down the par-five 15th. The sky was darkening overhead, Mickelson’s drive had finished a shade too close to the trees on the left and he was still five shots behind the leader, Rory McIlroy.
Walking off the tee Jordan Spieth had turned to Mickelson and said, ‘‘Well, Phil, looks like it’s all over.’’
‘‘Oh, I don’t know,’’ said the Philadelphic oracle, ‘‘They might go in from anywhere.’’
And so they did. The shot was a stretch, even for Mickelson. He had to bend a full-out, lace-up-yourcorsets 4-iron around the edge of the trees, clear the water and get enough height not to bounce over the back of the green.
There was that Augusta murmur of expectation as the ball left the epic blade. Mickelson was now emerging from the edge of the trees, bent over, walking, peering, pleading after the flight of the ball. His shot just cleared the water. The ball took two mighty hops, clattered against the pin and dropped in for a miraculous albatross.
Has there ever been such a roar. And then the lightning crackled overhead and the klaxon sounded. Poor McIlroy, who had seen a fiveshot lead cut to two, was just walking onto the 11th green when the noise overwhelmed him and he still had the ominous tee shot over the water at the 12th in front of him.
That hole had already seen extraordinary scenes on surely the most dramatic day in Masters history. Unexpectedly President Donald Trump had arrived at the course in order to prove to America that it was ‘‘business as usual’’. There may have been 89 workers and residents of an Augusta nursing home stricken with Covid 19, but Trump decreed that the show must go on.
In order to accommodate the president at Amen Corner, his security cleared the small press stand behind the 12th tee. One angry American journalist shouted at him; ‘‘You want the shirt off my back too. Is this how you shut down the media?’’
There was yet more commotion when a patron, who was moving his chair to get out of the way of the security mob, collapsed. John Cruet, who was attending his first Masters, turned to say something, mumbled, stumbled and then fell backwards like a tree. It later emerged that Cruet’s heart had stopped and for a few seconds he was technically dead.
As Cruet was being put on a buggy to be taken to the medical centre, the security phalanx surged in close around Trump. The klaxon went off for the first time on this fateful Sunday and spectators and players were ordered to stay where they were.
A relative of a patient at the Augusta nursing home had managed to force his way into the pro shop with a gun and was demanding an audience with Trump. An Augusta security guard later claimed that the man had got the gun onto the property by burying it several days before the tournament. After an hour’s delay the man gave himself up, Trump was helicoptered out of Augusta and this crazy Masters resumed.
The players had started early on Easter Sunday in order to avoid the forecast storm, but that window was now closing fast. The hold-up in the pro shop had cost too much time. Once the first band of lightning had passed overhead McIlroy came back out, finished off on the 11th and looked at that sliver of land known as the 12th green.
The wild wind was swirling. Club selection was anybody’s guess. McIlroy guessed wrong and a seemingly perfect tee shot was wrenched out of the sky and dumped in the water. Visibly upset McIlroy then dunched his third from the drop zone into Rae’s Creek. His fifth went over the back and McIlroy walked off with an 8.
You would have thought the young man was finished, but heroically he eagled the 13th and birdied the 14th. As he came down the 15th McIlroy was now level with Mickelson who was finishing his round up ahead. A poor tee shot meant that the Northern Irishman had to lay up. He then watched with horror as a perfectly struck wedge hit the flagstick and ricocheted back into the water.
McIlroy, whose brain was now as fuzzy as his hair, eschewed the drop zone and returned to where he had played his third. Madly McIlroy then went three or four yards further back so that he could take his stronger wedge. It was an illegal drop and McIlroy was penalised two shots.
Did it matter? Probably not. Somehow this day was written. It was Mickelson’s moment. Who can forget his jump when that ball dropped on 15th. It was an old man’s jump that elevated him above Jack Nicklaus who won the 1986 Masters at the age of 46 and above Julian Boros who won the ‘68 PGA at the age of 48.
Mickelson said; ‘‘It was a shot where I kept saying if I just trust my swing, I’ll pull it off. A great shot is when you pull it off. A smart shot is when you don’t have the guts to try it. My grandfather just nudged that ball into the hole as I leapt in the air and realised I just fulfilled my dreams. I’m in love with this place. It brings out the best in me. I’m just glad it was my shot heard around the world and not the one intended for President Trump.’’
There was a beautiful moment in the Butler cabin afterwards. John Cruet, the man who came back from the dead, had been invited in to see Tiger Woods, the defending champion, put the jacket on Mickelson’s shoulders.
‘‘Tell us how it feels, Phil,’’ said Augusta chairman Fred Ridley.
The Philharmonic smiled that goofy smile and half talked, half sang; ‘‘I built a ladder to the stars.’’
Tiger smiled and said, ‘‘Forever young.’’
This story may sound far fetched but it is based on several true tales from Augusta over the years. In 1935 Gene Sarazen did hole for an albatross on 15 when he hit ‘the shot heard round the world’. President Ronald Reagan was on the 12th hole at Augusta in 1983 when a bereaved, out-of-work, alcoholic gunman held up the pro shop and demanded to speak to the president. Statistical modelling did predict Rory would take an 8 on the 12th this year and his drop on 15 is an echo of Tiger Woods’ in 2013. And in 2018 Johnny Pruitt collapsed by the 12th, stopped breathing for a while and was clinically dead. He was saved by a doctor who happened to be standing next to him and Pruitt returned to witness Tiger’s resurrection last year. There are sadly currently 89 Covid sufferers who live or work at Windermere Health and Rehabilitation Center in Augusta. And a thunderstorm did sweep through Augusta on Easter Sunday, 2020. The exchange between Mickelson and Spieth on the 15th actually took place between Sarazen and Walter Hagen. Otherwise, apart from the reference to Trump and the Dylanesque ladder to the stars, all other Mickelson quotes are from his previous Augusta triumphs.