ESPN Golf

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- It was 11:45 p.m. when the limousine pulled around to the window at the Wendy's in Rochester, N.Y. The employees immediately realized they were serving burgers to a celebrity.

"The workers at the drive-through were like, 'That's Shaun Micheel!''' said Stephanie Micheel, wife of Shaun. "It was pretty funny.''

Just hours after Shaun's dramatic victory at the 2003 PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club, the Micheels were already learning about the fame that comes with winning one of professional golf's four major championships.

Shaun had 53 missed calls on his cell phone, one of which had come from his favorite rock band, KISS. Shaun is friends with the band's manager and has been backstage at several concerts.

"They were watching the tournament in Indianapolis and they called and said, 'Congratulations,''' said Micheel, who returned Monday to Memphis with Stephanie on the private jet owned by Little Rock pro Glen Day.

Micheel will soon discover that the $1,080,000 check, the five-year exemption into The Masters, the five-year exemption onto the PGA Tour and the newfound celebrity also come with other trappings.

Micheel will get his first full dose this week when he plays in the prestigious NEC Invitational at another of the country's great courses, Firestone South in Akron, Ohio. Micheel will be in demand from the media, from sponsors and fans in a way that he has never before experienced.

"I showed up at the golf course in New York unknown,'' Micheel said. "I understand it might be difficult, and I hope to handle it well. ... I'm not shy about asking for directions at gas stations, so I sure won't be shy asking how to handle this.''

Micheel referred to 2002 PGA winner Rich Beem several times after his victory and Beem's oft-repeated statement that "there's no manual'' telling a previously unknown golfer how to handle newfound celebrity and the opportunities and demands that can accompany it.

"He was right on,'' Micheel said. "I just look forward to the opportunities.''

In an article published in The New York Times Magazine on Sunday, Beem offered some advice to pros like Micheel and Ben Curtis, the surprise winner of last month's British Open.

Running with the headline, "What a Year a Win Can Make,'' the article asserts that winning the PGA led to "a year when he should have been atop the world but instead spent the bulk of his time trying not to be crushed by its weight.''

Referring to Curtis's win at the British, Beem said: "He has no idea what he just got himself into.''

Micheel, who left Memphis on July 21, the day before The Storm, had planned to take off this week after four straight weeks on Tour.

But the PGA victory earned him a spot in the NEC, which has a $6 million purse and no cut.

"I need to take advantage of that because I want to finish in the Top 30 and play in the TOUR Championship,'' Micheel said.

Micheel will also find himself in demand for postseason events in what is referred to as the Tour's Silly Season. Beem made $750,000 last year but discovered that he was exhausted when the real season began in January.

Micheel knows he's playing in the PGA Grand Slam of Golf on Dec. 15-17, and is in the season-opening Mercedes Championships in Maui.

One thing Micheel knows he won't be sacrificing is the chance to be with Stephanie when she delivers their son, who is due Nov. 28.

"Any time I found myself out there struggling,'' Micheel said, "I thought about her and that little baby and how difficult it must be for a lady to actually give birth. That brought me back a little bit and gave me something to think about besides trying to win the championship.''

For Stephanie, then, the spoils are bittersweet, because now that Shaun has finally earned his chance for professional junkets to Hawaii, she can't go.

"I told him I knew this would be the year he would finally win,'' Stephanie said. "Because I wouldn't be able to go.''

Not that the Micheels are complaining.

"I'm just glad to be back home,'' Shaun said Monday. "One day to think about it, and then I'm off to Ohio.''

Zack McMillin is a sportswriter for The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn., at http://www.gomemphis.com.