Congratulations to Phil Mickelson for his third green jacket. Sadly, Mickelson's courageous victory and emotional embrace with his wife Amy at the end of the tournament was overshadowed by the very antithesis of the man Lefty is.
Amy Mickelson is drop-dead gorgeous. She might be considered the "poster child," so to speak, for the term "trophy wife," were it not for the fact that she and Mickelson married long before he became the golf superstar he is today. Mickelson truly loves this woman -- he frequently refers to her as "my life partner" and not merely his wife. His golf suffered because his head and his heart were with Amy as she underwent treatment for breast cancer.
Phil Mickelson shares his third
Masters victory with wife Amy,
who is battling breast cancer
Another golfer who shall remain nameless gets a trophy wife then started cheating on her before the ink was dry on his marriage license. He then insulted every golfer who was playing in the Accenture Match Play by scheduling his press show during the tournament as if to say that he agrees with the media that the entire world, not just professional golf, revolves around him.
And that is why Jim Nantz is my new hero. He took a brave stand after the Masters to call out this guy. In the aforementioned press show the golfer said he was going to "respect the game" more. He then proceeded to curse loudly and repeatedly as his game fell apart during the last round of the Masters.
Golf is a gentleman's game, and that kind of language is not allowed. In fact, in 2005, a PGA rules official told the Chicago Tribune that he loved the fact that the very first section of the rules book deals with etiquette. Here is what it says:
All players should conduct themselves in a disciplined manner, demonstrating courtesy and sportsmanship at all times, irrespective of how competitive they may be. This is the spirit of the game of golf.
What part of that does the other golfer not understand? This fellow claims he follows Buddhism, so he should not be evoking the name of the God of monotheistic religions that he does not believe in, especially in a manner that every monotheistic religion considers blasphemous.
The problem is that a lot of writers are lining up against Nantz for saying the profanities uttered (well, shouted) and picked up by CBS's microphones were wrong. I say Good for you, Jim! Nantz is absolutely correct when he said on Mike Francesa's WFAN radio show that if he, as an announcer, had said such a thing he would be standing in the unemployment line by the end of the day. While a number of sports writers have ridiculed Nantz for his stand, I will applaud him loudly.
And to Lefty, your performance at the Masters was superb, and it grieves me as a fan of yours and a fan of the great game of golf to see such a wonderful performance overshadowed by someone else because of lazy reporters.
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