Wednesday, April 6, 2005 | 9:30 a.m.
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Still the people's champion even without his lovable loser status, Phil Mickelson returned Tuesday to a hero's welcome at the Masters for the first time since winning it last year.
Mickelson received ovation after ovation for every breath he took during his practice round with the UNLV crew of Ryan Moore, Chris Riley and Chad Campbell. He's popular everywhere, but Augusta National's patrons -- Masters parlance for fans -- lined the fairways and circled the greens three and four-deep to cheer their guy.
That's not even the biggest bonus of being a Masters champion, Mickelson said.
"Well, one perk is I haven't heard the question: 'Who is the best player in the world never to win a major?' " Mickelson said.
Mickelson shed that ignominious title last year with a stirring back nine that included five birdies, beating Ernie Els by a stroke. Tuesday's round allowed Mickelson his first chance to rediscover everything about that day, minus the pressure but definitely with the attention. He reminisced with his caddie about just how loud the crowd was last year at No. 17, how they couldn't even hear each other talk.
"It was just a very cool experience that I'll always remember and every time I come back here, I'll always relive it," Mickelson said.
Having only arrived last night from his win in the rain-delayed BellSouth Classic in Atlanta, Mickelson teed off around 8 a.m. with his Rebels trio. Mickelson survived a five-way playoff Monday afternoon to build momentum coming into the Masters, which was exactly his intent in choosing not to pull out of the tournament after the first two days were washed out.
"To feel the intensity and the anxiety and the butterflies of a sudden death playoff, that's what I feel every round, every shot here at Augusta," Mickelson said. "So to have only two days of a break of that is terrific because when I go 10, 11 days without having that feeling, it's much more of a culture shock for me, a lot harder to overcome those first few holes on Thursday."
Mickelson's theory received somewhat of an endorsement from the player he is still asked about as often as himself, Tiger Woods.
"If you're coming in off a win, more than likely, you've hit (the ball) great," Woods said. "I'm sure Phil certainly feels that way right now."
Mickelson has won three times this year, and he played Tuesday with the only player who might have more confidence built up from winning than he does. Moore said he felt no awe and was not intimidated playing with Mickelson, and his game showed it.
Perhaps no shot left a bigger impression on Mickelson than Moore's second at No. 15, a 500-yard, par-5 hole. Moore boomed his tee shot down the left side of the fairway -- the wrong side because it left him needing to get around a huge tree and over water guarding the front of the green.
With just less than 200 yards to the pin, Moore effortlessly stroked a big hooking shot that first appeared headed for the grandstand before swinging back toward the green and settling about 15 feet from the hole.
"Wow, he is some kind of player," Mickelson said. "He hit a lot of great shots today. He was very impressive."
Moore's great shots could not compete with Mickelson's great history among the gallery. Asked how many times he heard screams of "Phil!" compared to people calling his name, Moore jokingly put the number somewhere between 500 and 1,000 to just one.
Mickelson may not wear Arnold Palmer's crown quite yet, but the fans make no secret about their sentimental favorite -- even the year after Lefty became a major winner.
"I've been very surprised at some of the response," Mickelson said. "But it's been really cool and very enjoyable."
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