St. Jude fans love having Lefty there

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Early in the morning, 7:50, Phil Mickelson steps to the tee.

Outside the ropes, maybe 50 feet away, Jason Patrick leans over his 6-year-old son, Colin, and points toward Mickelson.

This is Colin's first golf tournament ever. This is his first impression of how a pro golfer carries himself.

"We're lucky to have Phil back," said Jason Patrick.

Yes, indeed, aren't we?

The FedEx St. Jude golf tournament is under way once again at TPC Southwind. Brooks Koepka, Greg Owen and Ryan Plamer all shot 6-under 64 to share the lead after one round. But the main attraction this year is the same as the main attraction the last two years, and it's the five-time major champion they call Lefty.

This is Mickelson's fifth appearance in Memphis, which makes him one of the greatest golfers to play the local PGA Tour stop with that kind of regularity. Mickelson is one of 19 players to have won five majors or more. Of those 19, only three have been to Memphis more than Mickelson.

Lee Trevino played Memphis 16 times. Gary Player played Memphis 15 times. Jack Nicklaus played Memphis seven times. After that comes Mickelson, tied with Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson with five appearances.

And if you'll note, all the others on the list played a good long while ago, back when purses were smaller and players couldn't afford to be so particular.

"Phil has meant a whole lot to the tournament," said Phil Cannon, the tournament director. "He gets it. He's a pro's pro. And people will buy a ticket to watch him."

People like Michael Fancher, 44, who woke up at 4:30 a.m. Thursday in order to drive the two hours from West, Mississippi, to make the 7:50 tee time.

"I'm not sure how many more times I'm going to be able to walk with him," said Fancher. "And I wanted to bring my daughter."

That was the other striking thing about Mickelson's gallery Thursday, besides the sheer size of it. It was brimming with kids. Mostly fathers and sons. It was as if the fathers were all saying, "If you want to emulate an athlete, you should try to emulate this guy."

So Jason Patrick was there with his six-year-old son, Colin. And Chad Michna came in from Atlanta with his 10-year-old son, Max.

"We go to one tournament a year," said the elder Michna. "Max really likes Phil."

And why does Max really like Phil?

"Because he's a class guy, he gives a lot of money to charity, he's nice to people and he's a great golfer," said Max, which is a lot of wisdom for a 10-year-old.

Jeremiah McCroskey took a day off work to come to the tournament with his 11-year-old son, Elijah. Eric Webb brought his two sons, 12-year-old Eric and 10-year-old Michael. Derek Mullinax arrived with his 13-year-old son, Tucker. They were all following Mickelson.

Lloyd Adams watched Mickelson with his 3-year-old grandson, Adams Hill. Joey Malone drove over from Dixon with his 13-year-old son, Dusty. Johnny Black brought 8-year-old Landon and 13-year-old Bailey.

"I've only seen him on TV before," said Landon. "This is way better."

Mickelson had a nice opening round, shooting a 2-under 68. He opened with birdies on 10, 13, 14 and 16 before giving back two strokes with bogeys on 4 and 8.

"I hit more good shots today than I did yesterday," said Mickelson. "I'll try to hit more good shots tomorrow."

The hope is this will lead him to hit even more good shots next week, when Mickelson tries again to win the U.S. Open. That's why he keeps returning to Memphis, of course. It's not for the cool temperatures.

So enjoy him while you can. Maybe line up to get an autograph. After playing 18 holes of golf Thursday, Mickelson walked straight to the fence near the clubhouse, where he must have signed 100 of them.

A whole bunch of those kids I listed collected autographs. You should have seen the smiles that resulted.

"Thanks for coming to Memphis," said one of the fans.

For five years now, and counting.

This article was written by Geoff Calkins from Commercial Appeal and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.