Mickelsons' Masters hug was perfect ending and beginning

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Phil Mickelson (right) greets wife Amy, who is battling breast cancer, after winning the 2010 Masters.

The hug.

ABC wrapped World News with it Monday night. The network wasn't alone.

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Everywhere you looked Monday -- and Tuesday -- there was the tender kiss, the long comforting hug. The tears. Phil Mickelson smiling in the Green Jacket. Amy, steadying herself behind the 18th green. Bones Mackay admitting even he was a bit of a mess.

That snapshot was an exclamation point on an emotionally charged week -- from start to finish. A window into how deeply the first major of the year touches the winner; how the patrons get wrapped up, not only in the golf, but in the back stories -- the real life things -- that enrich their understanding of the person as well as the moment. How slipping on a simple Green Jacket takes a life from black-and-white to cutting edge HD.

You remember Jack Nicklaus and his son Jackie. Ben Crenshaw sobbing as caddie Carl Jackson steadied his old friend. Mickelson's spilt-legged jump. Nick Faldo consoling Greg Norman. Stoic Bernhard Langer. Larry Mize taking half a lap when his chip-and-run disappeared on the second playoff hole.

The last moment may stick with the television audience, but it's quite honestly a week of moments. From the time you see the water tower on the edge of the property to your first steps on the lawn or down to Amen Corner, the Masters stirs something in you. It's the cathedral of golf; a course building on the rich soil of an old nursery. A place where just walking around is inspiring and a little spiritual.

It's what sets Augusta apart. Why scalpers ask IRA contributions for a chance to see that hug in person; why players say there's just something about this place that touches you. Why Norman has to keep wondering why a course he loves so much did nothing but break his heart.

The hug punctuated another storybook ending. A feel-good moment for a family battling cancer; another reason to forget a 0-for-34 major start, remember three jackets is a rare number and start thinking about -- dare we? -- the third leg of what may eventually be known as a Mickelslam.

We're sixtysomething days away from that opening tee shot at Pebble Beach and nothing's stirring. Yes, Pebble is a coastline of spectacular views and stories of long-gone days at what we once called the Crosby. It's the site of Tom Watson's miracle and Tom Kite's major. It's the place Tiger blew away one heck of a field in 2000. It's where a kid named Phil made his professional debut in 1992.

It's the site of our national championship. A red-white-and-blue grind. A sea of constricted fairways and gunch for rough. A hospitality tent village that will set a corporation back more than your average American will make in a year.

A tournament that inspires great shots, but not that immediate rush of emotion and memories that are woven into the fabric of the year's first major. And on top of all that, it's an event whose champion never defends on the same course where he won.

The only certainties going into any Open? That the man who won the Masters is the only player with a chance at the Grand Slam and the winner will be taking bows amid Father's Day storylines.

So this year, the man coming in is Mickelson. But after five seconds in this event, winning that third leg of the Slam would have to share equal billing with simply finally winning. He shared 16th here in 2000, which was akin to standing somewhere on the 10th hole and reaching for the 18th green, but that was a quantum leap from his professional debut where he chased an opening 68 with an 81 and headed home in his professional debut.

If this course feeds anyone, it might well be Tom Watson, who was officially extended an Open exemption Monday afternoon. Finally.

At 60, he still looks like the kid who snatched the 1982 Open away from Jack Nicklaus with that chip-in he called as if it were an 8-ball in the corner pocket. He's playing like it to, coming a putt away from a sixth British Open last July and a share of 18th last week at the Masters.

Still, he knows the course, but the length may give him a bit of trouble.

"I played from the back tees last September and the ninth hole's the one that I think is going to be a difficult hole for me.'' Watson said. "Playing a long shot in that green like that.

"I think I can deal with 10, I think I can deal with 13. Those are the three tees that they moved back. I think I can deal with those two holes, but 9 may be the one that I have a hard time with.''

When the PGA TOUR swung through Pebble a few months ago, players were scoping out the USGA tweaks. They were already thinking, plotting, planning. And knowing that all that could change in a blue-blazer minute.

The Open is more cerebral. More between-the-lines-the-USGA draws. And storylines have to fit in those narrow avenues.

As we head toward the Monterrey peninsula and coffee in Carmel, we don't feel the Open the way we feel the Masters. Instead, we simply start compiling storylines.

Phil. Tom. Tiger's return to Pebble and the next comeback step. Dustin Johnson who has won back-to-back AT&T Pro-Ams there. Kim. Westwood. A chance for Padraig Harrington and Ernie Els, a distant runner-up in 2000, to get the third leg of a slam, too.

Oh, there's also Ian Poulter and Ricky Barnes. Guys like Scott Verplank and defending champ Lucas Glover. And all the players who are already thinking about grinding through qualifiers to grab one of those precious spots.

On Father's Day we'll have a winner. Someone will hold the trophy, a few someones may share the silver medal. We'll talk about great shots and close calls. About the sea lions on the beach and the waves crashing on the coast.

We'll be inspired by the view, but we'll also still be talking about the hug. We'll talk about how no matter what the Open venue, that we're not touched the way we are when we step onto the lawn or visit Amen Corner.

And we'll count the days until we're back in Augusta for the first of 2011's four majors.

Melanie Hauser is a columnist for PGATOUR.COM. Her views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.