by Jennifer Reece

Reporter

Hudson -- His third-grade students at McDowell Elementary may not have noticed, but plenty of people over the years have told Principal Mark Leventhal that he bears a striking resemblance to PGA tour golfer Phil Mickelson.

Starting April 17, viewers may get a chance to decide for themselves when commercials featuring Leventhal, Mickelson and several other golfing fans are scheduled to begin airing for Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts.

The hotel chain sponsors a PGA Tour event in May at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.

"The whole premise of the commercial is to emphasize business meetings taking place at the Crowne Plaza," Leventhal explained.

In all, six, 30-second television spots were taped in California and feature Mickelson interacting with fans who share his passion for golf in various ways. Leventhal's spot is centered on "Phil Look-alikes."

Although there is no guarantee that some of the footage won't get left on the editing room floor, Leventhal thinks there's a good chance he'll be in one of the commercials with the man who once won the Hudson Junior Invitation at the Country Club of Hudson at age 16, in 1986.

From Hudson
to Hollywood

Leventhal, 47, learned of the contest to find Mickelson fans for the commercials during movie night at McDowell in February -- two days before the Super Bowl --when a parent mentioned he had seen some advertisements about it on the Golf Channel.

Since he has been mistaken for Mickelson many times, Leventhal searched the Internet for information the next morning.

"I saw the application deadline was the next day," he said.

With no time to make a video to send in, Leventhal --a married father of seven -- e-mailed over the family Christmas card photo, and within hours, had a response.

"This guy e-mailed me back and said 'Hey, this is really good. Send me some more,'" Leventhal said.

Once he sent over some additional photographs, he got a call from a producer who asked several questions to get a feel for Leventhal's personality.

By Wednesday -- less than a week after he had sent in the initial picture -- Leventhal learned he would be flown out to Hollywood for an audition.

He landed one of the roles and began taping the commercials with Mickelson towards the end of February.

Even on the way to the tapings, he was again encountered someone who mistakenly thought he was the famous golfer.

"I go to Enterprise [car rentals] and I'm standing there and this guy is just looking at me," Leventhal said. "And I didn't know what he wanted and then he came up to me, and he asked me if I was Phil Mickelson."

As for Mickelson himself, Leventhal said he couldn't have been nicer. The two spend hours together just talking while crews got to work making sure the background, lighting and set were just right.

"He was very friendly," Leventhal said. "He was smiling and laughing. His mom and dad were there helping out."

Since Mickelson has been through this area of Ohio many times, Leventhal said there was no loss for conversation.

"We talked about Hudson and the Bridgestone Tournament," he said. "He loves cars, I know that."

Leventhal said he marveled at how long it took to make several short commercials and the amount of work involved.

"I can't believe the amount of people and all the cameras," Leventhal said.

He said he hopes to get a copy of the commercial on DVD to show his kids at McDowell Elementary, who no doubt will be intrigued by their principal's newfound fame.

The commercials are scheduled to run through September 2008.

E-mail: jreece@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3145