Playing with Phil Mickelson

For the hackers playing Wednesday, the biggest fish they could possibly land was Phil Mickelson -- Mr. No 2 in the World, Mr. I'm the Star of those Funny Crowne Plaza Invitational Commercials, Mr. I Actually Smile at the Crowd and Live to Tell About It.

You know, that Phil Mickelson.

So I couldn't resist chatting up the entourages of the amateurs in Phil's pro-am group. Ed Faneui flew in from Boston to watch his son, Jesse, 27, play and was practically beaming on No. 16 when Jesse tapped in for par -- just like Phil.

"He was speechless when he found out last night that he'd be playing with Phil," Ed said, adding that his son is a 20 handicapper who could be a 14. So what was the best moment? "Hearing his name announced on the first tee." And watching Jesse and Phil joke around as they tromped up the fairways. "That's worth a million bucks," Ed said.

Cloris Hui said her husband, Peter, is a 17 handicap, and came all the way from Huntington Beach, Calif., to play in the Colonial pro-am. Playing with Mickelson was amazing, considering it is Peter's first pro-am ever, she said.

And when Brandon Baron found out he'd be playing with Phil, "he though it was a mistake," said his wife, Rachel. "He could sleep through a hurricane, but he couldn't sleep last night."

Even when Brandon air-mailed the green from the front bunker on 18, there were smiles all around from the amateurs and the pro. 

p.s That's Ed and Cloris in the photo at right.