Mickelson finds an unusual way to celebrate a green jacket

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Masters memories for Mickelson

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — One picture getting plenty of attention the day after the Masters was Phil Mickelson in a green jacket. There was nothing unusual about that except for where the photo was taken.

Mickelson was in his car at the window of a Krispy Kreme doughnut shop in Augusta, Ga.

The three-time Masters champion says he doesn’t eat a lot of carbohydrates or sugars during the tournament, which was only a problem because his kids wanted doughnuts. So he made a deal that he would take them to Krispy Kreme on Monday after the Masters.

As for the green jacket?

“It was a little chilly, so I threw on a jacket,” he said Wednesday.

The surprise was when he returned home to San Diego. His family left Augusta a few hours after going to Krispy Kreme, and when the plane landed, Mickelson noticed he had received texts and e-mails about the photo, which was taken by an employee.

“It’s fascinating because it just shows how things have changed over the last 15, 20 years since I was out on tour,” Mickelson said. “When I went to college we didn’t have cell phones, and since I’m out of college and out on tour, everybody is media now. The lady behind the counter at Krispy Kreme is media, and it’s an interesting thing to get used to.”

Mickelson took time during his two-week break to watch highlights from Augusta National, and while he had full confidence in his majestic 6-iron off the pine straw and over Rae’s Creek on the 13th hole Sunday, he conceded that it sure looked different on TV.

“I guess if you’re on the outside looking in and you see this guy in the pine needles and the trees and stuff, trying to hit a shot through the trees and around the trunks and over the water, I could see somebody questioning that,” Mickelson said. “But when you’re in it, when you’re out there in it and you see the lie and you see the shot and you see the target, it doesn’t seem as daunting.

“But as I kind of looked back and saw some of the pictures, I was like, “What was I doing?’ But it worked out.”

PRIVATE LIFE: Nothing about Tiger Woods’ private life is all that private any longer. If he didn’t realize that already, there were photos and comments about Woods going to a Nickelback concert in Orlando, Fla., after the Masters.

“A couple of band members are friends of mine, and that’s why I went,” Woods said. “I just had a great time. And unfortunately, I got criticized for seeing my friends.”

Woods was asked if he felt as though he could start leading a relatively normal life away from golf.

“No, there’s paparazzi everywhere — at home, helicopters here and there, people driving by, paparazzi camping out in front of the gates. That hasn’t changed,” he said.

UNDER HIS THUMB: Despite winning the Houston Open and challenging at the Masters, Anthony Kim is not at full health. He will need surgery at some point to reattach the ligament in his left thumb.

When? That’s the big question.

“The doctor has told me when the pain gets too hard to deal with, that’s when I should do it,” Kim said. “But as of now, he said it can’t get any worse, so I guess that’s a good thing. I’m just going to keep playing until I can’t anymore.”

Kim said proper recovery would take two or three months, depending on the amount of damage and how surgery goes. He made it sound unlikely that he would wait until the end of the year.

“I don’t think I’m going to take that chance because I want to play in the Ryder Cup, and that’s a huge goal of mine,” he said. “It was probably one of the greatest moments I’ve had playing golf, or greatest weeks I’ve had playing golf. So I want to be healthy for that. I just want to time it right. But at the same time, I want to play in all the majors, too, so in golf there’s not really a good time to take time off. I just have to get with my team and see what’s the right plan.”

DOUBLE EAGLE HAS LANDED: Tiger Woods is still trying to find his rhythm from a five-month layoff, although he showed glimpses during one of his practice rounds at home in Isleworth with John Cook. He made the third albatross of his career with a 5-wood from 260 yards on No. 17.

“Never saw it go in,” Woods said. “The green is slightly elevated, so I knew it landed on the green, and when we got up there, there was a ball mark and there was no ball. And that’s a pretty good feeling, especially when we had a few dollars on the line, too. That put me up on the last hole. So I was even more happy.”