1991

Phil and Mike

There was plenty of star power entering the 1991 Western Amateur.

Phil Mickelson wasn’t yet the worldwide golfing icon he would eventually become, but he was clearly the face of amateur golf when the tournament began at Point O’Woods Golf and Country Club in Benton Harbor, Mich., the site of every Western Amateur from 1971 to 2008.

Mickelson, a 20-year-old senior at Arizona State, was the defending U.S. Amateur champion and a two-time NCAA champion (he would add a third title in 1992), as well as being the low amateur at both the Masters and the U.S. Open. Earlier that year, he became only the sixth amateur to win a PGA Tour event when he won the Northern Telecom Open.

However, he wasn’t even the biggest star in his threesome when the 72-hole stroke play qualifying began. His playing partners for qualifying were Chris Smith, a top amateur from Ohio State, and Michael Jordan.

Yes, that Michael Jordan.

Jordan had just won the first of his six NBA world championships with the Chicago Bulls a little more than a month earlier. An avid and talented golfer, he was given an exemption into the Western Amateur. Mickelson requested the pairing with him, saying he could handle the crowds better than any of his competitors.

Mickelson shot 67-67-134 and was the 36-hole leader by eight strokes. Jordan was at85-81-166 and missed the 36-hole cut by 16 strokes.

The next day, with a decidedly smaller gallery following, Mickelson earned medalist honors (279) and advanced to the match play portion of the competition. After defeating Diego Centureira of Argentina (4-and-2) and American Sean Gorgone (4-and-3), he advanced to the final against another future professional star, Justin Leonard, at the time a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of Texas.

Mickelson had a 4-up lead with six holes to play before Leonard charged to cut the margin to 1-up, but Mickelson sank a 25-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole to claim the title.

Leonard would return to win the Western Amateur title in 1992 and 1993, joining Hal Sutton (1979-1980), Frank Stranahan (1951-1952), Marvin Ward (1940-1941), Chick Evans Jr. (1920-1923, 1914-1915) and H.C. Egan (1904-1905) as the only men to win consecutive titles.

Sports, Pages 31 on 07/28/2013

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