Phil

I was very sad to hear that Phil Mickelson's wife Amy was diagnosed with breast cancer. For those that don't know, Phil was Dan's favorite golfer. Phil also has a reputation for choking during tournaments, a fact that I liked to tease Dan about, and that also resulted in phone calls from Dan's dad when said choking occurred. But Dan's reasons for liking Phil were more noble- he just thought Phil was a stand up guy who gave back generously to numerous charities.

Phil was Dan's guy... he even had a programmed distribution list in his phone to text his friends on the off chance Phil was making a charge down the back nine. Dan loved watching him play. In fact, the last thing Dan watched on TV was a recap of Phil winning the WGC-CA by 1 stroke over Nick Watney. That last evening, Dan wasn't talking much and had been drifting in & out of sleep. But when the highlights of tournament came on, he woke up to watch Phil's victory and then smiled & gave me a thumbs up. I'll always think of that moment whenever I see Phil.

I hope that the Mickelson family finds the strength to get through this next phase. Again, we are reminded, as with the constant press coverage of Farrah Fawcett's tv special and Patrick Swayze's tabloid coverage, that cancer does not discriminate. And I know Phil has one guardian angel wishing for more than a victory on the golf course this time around.