Plain and simple...he gets it.  He gets the fact that he gets paid millions of dollars to play golf because people will pay to see him play golf...and he doesn't forget it.

Tusday afternoon, after playing a round in 90 plus degree heat, he stopped for about 30 - 45 minutes to sign autographos for his fans.  We waited around the 9th green in hopes of getting an autograph.  He gradually made his way down the ropes and unfortuantely, past me.

I went back to my wife and kids and asked my son if he wanted to see Phil.  Whne he said 'yes', I put him on my shoulders and made my way back to where Phil was.  By a stroke of good luck, there were not too many people around and I was able to get fairly close, fairly quickly.  Almost as soon I we got near him, he glanced up at my son..smiled a bit more..and when he was done signing a hat, reached up and took the US Open flag my son was holding and signed it for him.  When Phil handed the flag back, my son yelled, 'Thanks Phil!', and Phil responded with a resounding 'You're welcome'.

The entire time he was there signing autographs he had a smile on his face, he looked liek he was enjoying being with his fans.  Everytime he signed an autopraph and the person said 'thank you' he looked directly at them and said 'you're welcome'...whenever someone wished him luck in the tournament, he would again look directly at them and say 'thank you'. If even for a moment, he made you feel like it was just you and him out there, and that brief moment was more of a 'thank you' for being a fan than anything he would have signed.

Phil is a class act and I hope he does well this week...I hope he wins, and not because he signed our flag, but because he gets it...and I hope he always will.