The Color Of Envy

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Two years ago when he arrived here, Phil Mickelson had never won a major championship. However, his 0-for-42 mark as a pro in those biggest events didn't truly fathom the depth of his problems with his place in golf history. It was worse than that.

Few had the gall to speak the words aloud with so many years remaining in Lefty's career, but the possibility existed that, despite his enormous gifts and even greater popularity, Mickelson might end his career with the most disappointing record in the history of major tournament golf. The more he didn't win such crowns, the more Mickelson tied himself into a psychological pretzel by deflecting questions on the subject, resorting to "joy of competing" pop psychology and saying his time would come.

Now, after winning his second Masters, as well as capturing last year's PGA Championship, the 35-year-old Mickelson is streaming toward a far more logical and rightful place in the game he's loved since he first swung a club at 18 months old.

"Three for nine sounds better," said Mickelson, who knows better than anybody that he's now the red-hot fellow who has won the last two majors. The Phil Slam, anyone? He's halfway there. As for that guy Tiger, he's either 2 for 5 or 2 for 15, depending on whom you ask. Mickelson put the green jacket on Woods last April. To add spice to their rivalry Sunday, it was a bitterly disappointed Woods, who putted his way to third place, who put the green jacket back on Mickelson.

Is this back-and-forth ritual going to become an annual tradition, Mickelson was asked. In a flash, the ultra-competitive Mickelson, the one who had felt so thwarted for so many years, came racing to the fore.

"I really don't want to 'trade,' " he said. "I certainly preferred having the jacket put on [by Tiger] rather than putting it on."

There we have it. Game on, though said with subtlety in a sport of gentlemen. Those inside golf know this rivalry has been real for years, though with Woods usually getting the last sly word. Winner gets to plant the barb.

"As much as I want to be part of the history of this tournament and of this great game of golf, what I really try to do is prepare my best for each and every event," Mickelson said. "I don't think about leaving a legacy."

This is the side of Phil that drives everybody nuts, makes his peers want to scream, "Get real." However, as the cachet of his wins and the stunning margins of his victories have mounted, Mickelson has been able to drop his mask and show how much he has longed for a place at the table of the game's greats and how much more he still wants to accomplish.

"I don't think about leaving a legacy," said Mickelson, pausing. "But it's at least nice that I've started. A nice little start."

If three major titles are just a start, then what would constitute a culmination? After his rock-solid 4-under par performance over 31 holes Sunday, Mickelson has every right to believe that he will finally, if belatedly, fulfill his full potential. All whispers about Pholdin' Phil are long buried. Comparisons to Tom Weiskopf and Greg Norman, who never won a major title in America, are also a thing of the past.

Now, with plenty of prime seasons ahead of him, Mickelson and his fans can wonder where he will finish in the list of long-hitting multiple-Masters winners such as Sam Snead, Seve Ballesteros and perhaps someday even Tom Watson and Arnold Palmer.