Loy first started recruiting Mickelson in the late 80s

Phil Mickelson has been Steve Loy’s ride or die since the fresh-faced lefthander committed to play golf at Arizona State University, where Loy was the head coach, more than 30 years ago.

They’ve shared at least 7,200 yards of memorable moments since, with Mickelson building one of the great careers in golf history and Loy serving as his agent, business partner and close friend.

Mickelson will be in the field for this week’s PGA TOUR Champions Cologuard Classic, which not coincidentally will be played at Tucson National Golf Course. “Lefty” won three PGA TOUR events in which the course was used, including the 1991 Northern Telecom Open.

The significance? Not only is it the 30th anniversary, but it marks the last time an amateur won a PGA TOUR event. And Loy was on the bag when Mickelson, then a junior for the Sun Devils, shocked the golf world with a one-stroke victory over ASU alum Tom Purtzer and Bob Tway.

“That’s a great memory to this day,” said Loy, 69, who was that rare combination of linebacker/golfer during his years at Eastern New Mexico University from 1970-73. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business and then got a master’s in sports psychology from Utah in 1974, after which he immediately went into coaching golf, at Scottsdale (Arizona) Community College.

Loy said he first began recruiting Mickelson when the player was just 15. Loy was then the head coach at Arkansas, and Mickelson was on his way to winning three consecutive American Junior Golf Association Rolex Tournament of Champions titles.

“I walked up to him during a practice round and started to shake his hand,” Loy said. “I had the hog on my chest and he looked and said, ‘What’s that?’ I said, ‘It’s a Razorback, and I’m gonna make you a Razorback someday.’ And he just kind of shrugged it off and was like, ‘Yeah, yeah.’”

Loy already had recruited John Daly to Fayetteville. Imagine if Mickelson and Daly had been college teammates. But … Loy moved on to Arizona State when Mickelson was a junior. And while the player might never have gone to call the Hogs, Tempe seemed a little more tempting for the San Diego native.

“I’d see him every tournament, and I’d say from one lefthander to another,” said Loy, who has been inducted into the athletic halls of fame at each of the four aforementioned schools, as well as the NJCAA Golf Coaches Hall of Fame and the Golf Coaches Association of America Hall of Fame. “Then I get the job at Arizona State his junior year of high school. And I meet him at his home with his family. It became a relationship there that has lasted ever after.

“After his junior year he was playing the Rolex Tournament of Champions, and by then I’m on the prowl to finish this and get him signed. I find out what plane he’s on and get on the same flight as him and his family back to San Diego (the 1987 tournament had taken place at Horseshoe Bend Country Club in Roswell, Georgia, just outside Atlanta). I’m sitting in the back of the plane. And I sent a napkin with the flight attendant that says, ‘Gosh, you’re gonna be a great-looking Sun Devil.’ She hands it to him and he stands up and looks around. Finally he sees me and smiles and just sends it back. And I’m thinking, ‘What does this mean? Where is he going? Oklahoma State? USC? Arizona State?’”

The coach held his breath. The moment of truth had arrived.

“Everybody in the world was after him at that point,” Loy said. “We get to his high school golf banquet. He gets player of the year again. He stands up and … here’s life or death as a coach. And he says, ‘Well, I guess the guy who was here first and stays the longest is where I’m going to play and that’s the guy at Arizona State.’ I felt like I’d just had a baby!”

Mickelson already had won two individual NCAA championships and the Sun Devils had claimed the national championship before the 1991 Northern Telecom rolled around. Lefty was familiar with both courses used for the tournament, Tucson National and Starr Pass.

To that point only three amateurs had won PGA TOUR events since 1950. The last was Scott Verplank at the Western Open in 1985. And while there might have been reason to believe Mickelson could show well in Tucson given his familiarity and burgeoning game, winning probably was another story.

But what Loy remembers best was that Mickelson showed absolutely no fear from start to finish. By the time the first 67 holes had been played, Lefty built had a three-shot lead.

“We get to the 14th hole and we’re just cruising,” Loy said. “But there’s a big ravine on the left, par 5, and he lets one go left right into the barranca. And I say all right, we can make bogey here. Next one goes into the barranca on the other side. He makes a triple bogey and we lose our three-shot lead after having the lead for all three days.

“He’s a junior in college, and I can see it in his eyes. I said, ‘Look, all we have to do is hit this par 3 and I know you’ll be able to putt it.’ We go to the back of the green, long putt, but he creeps it up there and we make a par. Next hole, downhill par 4. We’re one shot behind Tom Purtzer. Phil hits a drive down there and hits his approach within 2 feet. I grab him by both shoulders before he could see a leaderboard. I said, ‘Listen to me. Make this putt, and we’re tied for the lead. Don’t think it’s over here.’ And he walks up there and sinks the putt.”

After a routine par at the 17th, Mickelson came to the 72nd hole tied for the lead. He hit his approach on the par-4 18th about 8 feet left of the hole.

“I’ve been reading putts all week long with him, and I say do you want me to have a look?” Loy recalled. “And he says, ‘No, Coach, I’ve got this.’”

The putt was center cut. The pro-Sun Devil crowd in Tucson (home of the rival University of Arizona Wildcats) went bananas. The kid had the first of what would balloon to 44 PGA TOUR titles. He turned down the $180,000 first-prize check to maintain his amateur status and finish out his career under Loy at ASU.

Loy is surprised no one has joined Mickelson and current Champions Tour compatriot Verplank, who’s making his 2021 debut at the Cologuard, in the winner’s circle as an amateur.

“With as many great young players as there are now I’m very surprised no amateur has won since Phil,” Loy said. “They come out so much more prepared to play and win. It’s almost shocking no one has.”

Mickelson will try to make more history in the desert this week. He made two starts on PGA TOUR Champions in 2020 and won both. No player on any professional tour has won their first three events.

“Oh gosh, I didn’t even realize that and frankly I’m afraid to tell him that,” Loy said. “He starts chasing things before he ever even gets started. That would be a wonderful record to have.

“I think he’s going down there … we own a course down there so he can live at home. And he just felt very comfortable there. That’s why he picked this event. It will be like a homecoming in a lot of ways.”