All he did was smile

Phil Mickelson



For the past few days, while I tried to enjoy one of the greatest golf tournaments

in the world, all I was entertained with was the Tiger Woods show. As soon as one

golfer would hit a tee shot or make a putt, it seemed that the next view would be

that of Tiger Woods.



.Tiger Woods just missing a putt that would have put him

in contention with the other golfers.



.Tiger Woods hooking his drive which showed how his time

off had hurt his game.



.Tiger Woods trying to "respect" the game.



.How it seemed that the Tiger was able to put his past trans-

gressions behind him and was able to concentrate on the job

at hand.



It just kept going on and on about Tiger this and Tiger that.



On the other hand, a little miracle was occurring at the Masters;

one golfer just kept smiling.



.He smiled if he made a good drive,

or if he made a bad drive.



.He smiled if he made a 50 foot putt or

missed a 5 foot putt.



.As he walked between holes, he smiled

and shook hands with the crowd.



.He never cursed a bad stoke or blamed

another person for a miss.



All he did was smile.



Why would Phil Mickelson be smiling?



.Here was a man whose wife has breast cancer.



.Here was a man whose mother has breast cancer.



.Here is a man who rather than allow his wife and mother

to fight this battle by themselves, took time off from the

PGA tour to be with them.



.Here was a man that returned to the game he loved

when his wife ordered him to.



.Here was man, who was so glad for the miracle that

was happening as his wife moved closer to a cure,

that he rewarded her oncologist by allowing him to

be his guest caddy at last week's golf tournament.

This move, which could have cost Mickelson thou-

sands of dollars in purse money, was his gift to a

man he knew he could never thank enough for

what he had given to him.



During the last round today, Phil's wife was staying in their hotel room since

she was still weak from the chemo treatments she is receiving. Phil did not

know as he walked up to the 18th tee that his wife would be there.



All Phil did was smile.



He smiled to the crowds; he smiled to the TV audience; he smiled to God.



After his last putt found the bottom of the hole, he hugged his caddy and others and

walked to the scorer's shack. He then gave the biggest smile of the whole four days.

He saw his wife, and even in the midst of thousands of people ...



it seemed that only two were there.



Tomorrow I am going to smile.



.I am going to smile if it is nice weather or bad.



.I am going to smile at the driver who honks his

horn at me, or the driver who cuts me off.



.I am going to smile if I get the order or not.



.And when the day is done, I am going to save

my biggest smile for the person who makes me

complete.



Then I am going to look to the heavens

and give thanks for being able to smile.



Thanks Phil. God bless you and your family.

And keep on smiling!