Amateur Lewis gets advice from Lefty

The man who is believed to be the oldest rookie in Masters Tournament history is certainly making up for lost time.

Randall Lewis, 54, played a spur-of-the-moment practice round with three-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson last week, and has another one lined up this morning with Tom Watson, a two-time Masters champ.

“I’m really looking forward to that. It’s really nice of him to do that,” Lewis said of Watson.

Lewis, a financial planner from Alma, Mich., said Watson’s run at the 2009 British Open title at age 59 served as an inspiration as he won last year’s U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, which was his ticket into the Masters.

Lewis is still on “cloud nine” after playing with Mickelson at Augusta National last week. They met for the first time last Tuesday on the range.

“He just walked by after we were done hitting balls and said, ‘Hey, you got a game tomorrow?’ and I said no,” Lewis said. “He said, ‘You want to play?’ and I said, ‘Oh yeah, definitely.’”

The experience was “pretty special,” Lewis said.

“He couldn’t have been nicer. He took the time to show me around the greens and said, ‘I want to show you this and I want to show you that.’ Unbelievable.

“I don’t think there is anybody else on the PGA Tour, a week before the Masters, who would reach out to an amateur like that,” Lewis said. “I think Phil has an appreciation for amateurs. He won the U.S. Amateur (in 1990) and his brother (Tim) plays in the Mid-Amateur. I think he understands how tough it is to win at match play, especially at my age.”

Lewis turns 55 on May 8, so he’ll be the first Mid-Amateur champion to play in the U.S. Senior Amateur (for golfers 55 and over) a year after winning the Mid-Am title, which is for golfers 25 and over.

“He mentioned that a couple of times and said ‘That’s unbelievable,’” Lewis said of Mickelson.

Now Lewis gets to play with Watson this morning.

“I got my (Masters) invitation Christmas Eve, which was the best Christmas present I ever got,” Lewis said. “I wrote him a letter that night and mailed it out the day after Christmas. He wrote me back and said, ‘8 o’clock a.m. first tee, Augusta National, Monday, April 2, be there.’ I’m going to be there.”

Watson told Lewis that Martin Kaymer, who was ranked No. 1 in the world at this time last year, will join them this morning.