One Magical Sunday

by Phil Mickelson

  Our entire family was emotional for weeks after the Masters. The only person who didn’t cry was Phil—and he never shed a tear.

  Amy Mickelson

  I’ve given a lot of thought to why so many people reacted so enthusiastically to my win at the Masters. Part of the reason, I think, is that we all have something in common. We’re all trying to win our own personal major. Every day, we work hard to make a little progress. And every day, we get beaten back a little bit.

  It’s not easy to win a major, or achieve a dream, or make it to that magic destination where we believe success lies. Now that I’ve finally made it, I can tell you one very important thing I’ve learned along the way. And that is that the real magic is not so much in achieving the victory, itself. The real magic is in the journey we take to get there.

  I’ll always cherish the green jacket, but the real prize for me was hitting a thousand shots on the driving range with Rick Smith, stroking a thousand putts on the green with Dave Pelz, and making five birdies on the back nine at Augusta.

  The real prize is not the beautiful Masters trophy sitting on my shelf at home. The real prize was hitting a thousand chip shots in the backyard with my dad, skipping a ball off the water with Coach Steve Loy as my caddy, and hitting a thousand golf balls by myself in the rain.

  I was fortunate to win the Masters. But I’m more fortunate to have a great life partner in my wife, Amy, with whom I share everything. I was blessed with a natural golf swing. But I’m more blessed to have three healthy and loving children in my life—Amanda, Sophia, and Evan.

  To win my first major without my family around would have been unthinkable. To win it with them there, to share in that wonderful moment with me, made it absolutely priceless.

  Like many other good things in my life that have come back to me, the ball I threw into the crowd from the 18th green was returned by the fan who caught it. I took that ball and the flag from the 18th pin and had them framed together in a glass case. Then I gave it to my grandmother. It now hangs on the wall of my grandfather’s kitchen. A major flag with all his other tournament flags. Just like he wanted.

  When Evan was about 18 months old, he spent the day over at my parents’ house. Dad took him out to the backyard green and gave him a sawed off kid’s putter and some golf balls to play with. He spent the better part of the day out there. And when it came time for him to come in and eat, he wouldn’t leave the back yard. My mom says that’s exactly the way I acted when I was his age.

  Amy sometimes wears a small bracelet on her wrist. It‘s a circle with three charms on it. Joy for Evan. Patience for Sophia. Peace for Amanda.

  As in golf, life is a game of circles.

  About Donald T. Phillips

  Don Phillips is a best-selling author of major works of nonfiction. His trilogy on American leadership (The Founding Fathers on Leadership, Lincoln on Leadership, and Martin Luther King Jr. on Leadership) has won worldwide acclaim. His first book, Lincoln on Leadership, paved the way toward the creation of an entire new genre of books on historical leadership. Mr. Phillips has also collaborated on two books with legendary basketball coach Mike (Coach K) Krzyzewski of Duke University (Leading with the Heart, and Five-Point Play). One Magical Sunday is his fourteenth book.

  BOOKS BY DONALD T. PHILLIPS

  Lincoln on Leadership (Warner Books, 1992)

  On the Brink: The Life and Leadership of Nor-

  man Brinker (with Norman Brinker; Summit, 1996)

  Lincoln Stories for Leaders (Summit, 1997)

  The Founding Fathers on Leadership (Warner Books, 1997)

  Martin Luther King Jr. on Leadership (Warner Books, 1999)

  A Diamond in Spring (Summit, 1999)

  Leading with the Heart: Coach K’s Successful Strategies in Basketball,

  Business, and Life (with Mike Krzyzewski; Warner Books, 2000)

  Run to Win: Vince Lombardi on Coaching and Leadership (St. Martin’s

  Press, 2001)

  Five-Point Play: The Story of Duke’s Amazing 2000-2001 Champi-

  onship Season (with Mike Krzyzewski; Warner Books, 2001)

  Unto Us a Child: Abuse and Deception in the Catholic Church (Ta-

  pestry Press, 2002)

  Character in Action: The U.S. Coast Guard on Leadership (with

  Admiral James M. Loy; Naval Institute Press, 2003)

  Disasters: Insights and Impacts (with Randall Bell; Tapestry Press,

  2005)

  The Rudy in You: A Youth Sports Guide for Players, Parents, and Coaches

  (with Rudy Ruettiger and Peter Leddy; Bonus Books, 2005)