Mickelson Basks in the Glow of His Victory at the Masters

Phil Mickelson’s trademark sheepish grin gradually turned to a full-fledged smile during the back nine Sunday at the Masters and that’s exactly how Mickelson expects it will remain for the next few days. Or weeks. Or months.

Sometime during that stretch, he’ll probably take off his green jacket, but for now, that too stays put.

The 2004 Masters champion wore both proudly Tuesday during a whirlwind media tour that began with nearly two hours of interviews at La Jolla Country Club and included a taping of “The Tonight Show” at NBC studios in Burbank. In between, Mickelson, a San Diego native now living in Rancho Santa Fe, fielded nearly a dozen phone calls from radio and magazine reporters. He answered the same questions over and over, and the smile never left his face.

“It’s going to be hard to wipe off this smile and it’s going to be hard to take away this jacket,” Mickelson said. “They tried to pry it away from me when I left, but I’d have none of it.”

His possessiveness is understandable. Mickelson has been one of the most scrutinized golfers of the modern era, mostly for his inability to win a major championship. He freed himself from that characterization Sunday with a skillful back-nine 31, capped by an 18-foot birdie putt on the last hole that gave him a one-shot victory over Ernie Els.

As that putt dropped in, Mickelson leaped into the air, landing as the 2004 Masters champion.

Now, instead of being the best player never to have won a major, he is the only player with a shot at the 2004 Grand Slam.

“How quickly things change,” Mickelson said. “It’s such a nice change, but I’m certainly not thinking that far in advance. I really just want to spend the next few weeks enjoying this.”

After he takes care of some business. Mickelson flew home Monday morning, spent the afternoon with his three children at his in-laws’ home in Carlsbad and watched replays of the final round. Meanwhile, he has accumulated more than 60 phone messages and his agent’s office has received at least 350 congratulatory e-mails.

One call he took Sunday was from President Bush, and during that conversation, Mickelson found out that even a Masters champion can take a little ribbing. The president apparently wasn’t too impressed with Mickelson’s leaping ability.

“He roughed me up,” Mickelson said. “The president of the United States roughed me up. He said, ‘Now I understand why last year you tried to play baseball instead of basketball.’ ”

Last summer, Mickelson unsuccessfully tried out for a minor league baseball team, the Toledo Mud Hens. Good thing he stuck with golf, but the only thing Mickelson expects will change is his ability to cope with final-day pressure at future major championships.

He plans to take the next two weeks off and will return to action for the HP Classic of New Orleans starting April 29. He’ll play four weeks in succession, then will begin preparation for the U.S. Open June 17-20 at Shinnecock Hills in Southampton, NY.

“I don’t anticipate that it will change anything, other than the week or two following might be a little hectic,” Mickelson said. “This week, we’re looking forward to going to some of the local areas, whether it’s the zoo or Sea World or Legoland or Chuckie’s -- whatever the kids want to do.”

Mickelson acknowledged that past failures in major championships sometimes affected his performances but figured that having won the first one should help.

“I feel that the second one will not be as difficult as the first because every time I would get in contention, it was almost as though it was an opportunity not to succeed, but to fail,” he said.

“Now that I feel like I’ve broken through, I feel that it’s much easier the next time I get into contention to let the tournament kind of come to me.”

The U.S. Open was last played at Shinnecock Hills in 1995 and Mickelson finished tied for fourth, four shots behind winner Corey Pavin. He likes the course and has newfound confidence in his swing and his ability to hit fairways -- paramount to success at the U.S. Open.

Can Mickelson, winless in 46 majors before Sunday, possibly make it two in a row?

He contemplated the question, tugged at the sleeve of his green jacket and took a deep breath.

Then, as he has done since Sunday evening, he smiled.