Phil Mickelson admits his biggest on-going joy is finally taking possession of the famed Claret Jug is watching people shake when the get to hold golf’s oldest trophy.
It’s now been nearly four months since Mickelson finally broke through at his 23rd attempt to capture golf’s oldest major on that sun-splashed afternoon at Muirfield.
Since then the Claret Jug has hardly been out of the Californian’s sight with the only exception being for his journey to China and today’s (SUN) concluding WGC- HSBC Champions event in Shanghai.
This woman found herself being photographed with the Claret Jug when Mickelson visited the Bridges Golf Club in Rancho Santa Fe.
He said: “I’ve had the Claret Jug with me in hosting a number of corporate events and I’ve also taken it back to two courses in San Diego where I live.
“I brought it along to the Callaway headquarters in San Diego, The Bridges Golf Club near San Ramon and The Farms Golf course at Rancho Santa Fe and it’s just been great.
“A lot of the corporate clients have really enjoyed drinking from the Claret Jug and it’s been a lot of fun having it with me and joining everyone in a sip.
“So that’s been a lot of fun having it.
“There’s been a wide range of reactions, and people who really understand golf and appreciate The Open Championship, the Claret Jug, that they are shaking when they hold it.
“It’s a really fascinating thing to watch people’s reactions to it, especially those that understand the importance of the Claret Jug, how special it is, and that makes it even more enjoyable for me to share that with them.”
And Mickelson confirmed that unlike past champions, no one has yet dropped golf’s most notable trophy.
He said: “Oh, no, no.”
Mickelson revealed he intends ordering at four replicas of the Claret Jug – one for himself and one each for his three children Amanda, Sophia and son Evan.
He said: “I’d like to order as many replicas as I can and hand one each to my three kids, and that would be pretty cool for them to treasure.”
And while Mickelson, like so many other Open Champions before him, has long looked at the list of past winners he has yet to pick up on the one spelling mistake on the Claret Jug.
When Fred Daly captured the 1947 Open at Hoylake the engraver mistake the name by etching Holylake.
He said: “I’ve studied the names and places on the Claret Jug so many times and I never knew that but then I will have a good look again when I get back home.”
Mickelson will have the Claret Jug next in Scotland when he defends his Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open at Royal Aberdeen and a week before he hands back the trophy to the R & A at Hoylake.
And there was further delight for Mickelson when he long-time caddy Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay was presented with the ‘Caddy of the Year’ award at a function during this week’s Shanghai event.
He said: “I was very pleased and it’s well deserved as I believe he is the best at what he does and to be recognised by his peers is pretty special, so I am very happy for him.
“I am lucky to have had Bones on the bag now for 21 years and it’s been a great 21 years.
“It caps another great year for the two of us and while I’m already excited about next year to have had that the two week winning stretch we had in winning the Scottish Open and then The Open was very special, so for Bones to win that award is pretty special.”
And Mickelson still recalls the very first day Mackay caddied for him at that was at a 36-hole qualifier for the 1992 US Open in Memphis.
He said: “I never doubted his qualities that very first day and not once since, so he’s been great.”
