"Phil made new friends that night, East Coast guys who were never around him before, who just read and heard about this Left Coast character and never knew what to think."

Tim Rosaforte fawns over Phil Mickelson's appearance at a Boys and Girls Club tournament and calls him the "unofficial host pro" when the U.S. Open arrives at Torrey Pines. But more importantly, we learn that Phil is just a regular guy, carrying his own Callaway double strap bag (and here I figured Phil would have picked up a Sun Mountain on ebay).

Mickelson's buddy Gregg Tryhus, the Scottsdale developer (Grayhawk and Whisper Rock), walked every step with them, but Phil never let him take the bag.

Uh, you don't usually hand your bag off to a developer who overpays you to design a course for him.

Seeing Mickelson in shorts, carrying his own sticks, is nothing new around Torrey Pines. Lefty has been doing that since he was playing junior golf. He was out with brother Tim before the Players in the same gear and came back with a scouting report and take on the Golf Digest U.S. Open Challenge. Tim, the coach at the University of San Diego, is actually longer than Phil, who drove one 357 yards on Thursday at Colonial during an opening round 65.

"Phil has enjoyed carrying his own bag since his junior golf days," Coe said. "He just feels more connected to the course and it allows him to play at his own pace. I feel if the USGA would let him, he would pack his own bag for the Open and probably imagine he was playing in another Junior World."

And if his sponsors let him, he's play barefoot with a shred of hay tucked between in his cheek.

Now about this Boys and Girls club dinner...

Hosting the dinner was New York Times best-selling author Jim Nantz, who said during the introductions he had a vision of a Mickelson victory.

Okay I know I keep interrupting here, but New York Times best-selling author Jim Nantz? Continue...

Afterward, they sat on a stage and conducted a question and answer session that lasted almost an hour. Phil was open, self-deprecating, teasing, funny. At one point, radio host Rush Limbaugh stood up and asked an impassioned question about Tiger Woods, but Phil gave it the full dodge, as any good politician would.

Phil made new friends that night, East Coast guys who were never around him before, who just read and heard about this Left Coast character and never knew what to think.

I'm sorry, did I miss the part where this article started with "For Immediate Release?"

And talk about your buried lede. The last sentence:

Phil forgot to mention what he told the guys gathered around him on the putting green Tuesday morning at Torrey. Even at 7,607, he'll only have to hit driver four times.