Phil Mickelson Rewarded for Being a Good Dad with U.S. Open Lead

Phil Mickelson Rewarded for Being a Good Dad with U.S. Open Lead











Ryan Ballengee June 13, 2013 7:00 PM


COMMENTARY -- Instant karma got Phil Mickelson on Thursday at the 2013 U.S. Open. For the better.



Mickelson flew into the Philadelphia area early Thursday morning after taking a cross-country plane ride for
the second time in three days to attend his daughter Amanda's eighth-grade graduation in California an


Related Images


.
In this June 16, 2002, file photo, Phil Mickelson hits …View »

.
Serena Williams - Day 9 U.S. OpenView »
07:24

.
Bethpage Black set to host PGA, Ryder CupView »

.
Rafael Nadal wins U.S. OpenView »
14:50

.
Serena Williams - Day 9 U.S. OpenView »d to make his final preparations for the week ahead at Merion.





He rolled into the Ardmore, Pa., club at 5:37 a.m. ET, just about 90 minutes before his 7:11 a.m. tee time with Keegan Bradley and Steve Stricker. It was go time -- jet lag, lack of sleep and all.



After a three-putt bogey at No. 11, his first hole of the day,Mickelson steadied himself. Mickelson got back to square with a birdie at the short par-4 13th and didn't drop another shot the rest of the way en route to 3-under 67 and the lead after the first wave at Merion.



He even was gifted some nap time by Mother Nature, as a three-and-a-half-hour weather delay halted play starting at 8:36 a.m. ET.



But let's be clear: It's not like Lefty snagged a ride on a FedEx cargo jet, rolling around in the underbelly of the plane without a seat belt. He rode on a G-5 private jet. He took a nap, albeit not a long one.



But, still, Mickelson did the right thing with his means: He was there for his daughter.



Amanda Mickelson was a speaker at her middle-school graduation. That speech was the latest chapter in a parenting journey that began 14 years ago, and whose prologue was the most public part of the story.



It was 1999, and Phil Mickelson was battling Payne Stewart at Pinehurst No. 2 for his first major championship at the U.S. Open. His wife, Amy, was pregnant with the couple's first child, who turned out to be Amanda. Mickelson was carrying a beeper -- remember those? -- swearing that if it went off, he knew his next move: off the golf course and on a path directly to a delivery room to see his daughter born.



The beeper never went off. Phil didn't win the trophy. With a 20-foot putt on the 72nd hole, Stewart captured his legacy win. Amid the jubilation of the moment, Stewart went to Mickelson and shouted in his face, "You're going to be a father!" almost as though Stewart was happier about that than winning the national championship. Maybe Stewart was.



Amanda was born the next day, the first of three children for the Mickelsons. In the intervening time between that day and now, the family has been through a lot.



Nearly five years later, Dad won a major at the 2004 Masters, the first of three Augusta titles and four majors overall. However, the year before, Amy nearly died giving birth to the couple's third child, Evan. Maybe the stark reality of the fleeting nature of life made that back-nine comeback against Ernie Els seem so much easier. Later that summer, Mickelson nearly won his nemesis major, the Open Championship, before Todd Hamilton shocked the world.



Mickelson would then win two more majors, including the '05 PGA Championship and '06 Masters. The Mickel-slam was one bad drive at Winged Foot away from maybe being as real as the Tiger Slam. The self-described idiotic mistake may have put Mickelson's professional career on another course, but three years later, life cruelly realigned his priorities.



Not only was Amy diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009, but so was Mickelson's mother just six weeks later. Thankfully, both survived. Mickelson did his best to turn the page professionally in April 2010, capturing his fourth major in an emotional win at the Masters.



Since then, he's gone majorless, despite a shooting-star chance at the 2011 Open Championship and a run at the '12 Masters. Maybe that's about to change.



The 3-under tally Mickelson posted on Thursday at Merion was his lowest opening U.S. Open round against par since, you guessed it, that week at Pinehurst 14 years ago.



Maybe that 67 wasn't instant karma after all. Maybe it's payback from an act 14 years ago.



Either way, it's about time for Mickelson to win a U.S. Open. He has been runner-up in this championship a record five times. The window is closing on the period where he can reasonably expect to contend for many more of these grueling examinations. He turns 43 on Sunday.



An Open breakthrough on his birthday and Father's Day might seem cheesier than one of Philly's best steak sandwiches, but for a guy who has spent as much time in the air as he has this week, it'd be a great round trip.



Ryan Ballengee is a Washington, D.C.-based golf writer. His work has appeared on multiple digital outlets, including NBC Sports and Golf Channel. Follow him on Twitter @RyanBallengee.

Mickelson among early leaders on Day 1

Mickelson among early leaders on Day 1












.

View gallery


Phil Mickelson's 67 was his lowest opening round in the U.S. Open since 1999.(Getty Images)

PGA.COM June 13, 2013 8:44 PM


ARDMORE, Pa. (AP) -- So much for getting a good night's sleep.

Phil Mickelson arrived at Merion Golf Club about four hours before his 7:11 a.m. tee time and still managed to shoot a 3-under 67 for the clubhouse lead at Thursday's opening round of the U.S. Open.

"I might have used just a little caffeine booster at the turn just to keep me sharp," Mickelson said. "But that was our ninth hole or so, and I just wanted to make sure I had enough energy."

Mickelson flew overnight from San Diego after watching his oldest daughter's eighth-grade graduation, where she was one of the featured speakers. At first, he was a little shaky. But after rolling a birdie putt 8 feet past his first hole and putting his tee shot in the rough at his second, he settled himself --helped by a little more sleep during a rain delay.

It was his lowest opening round since 1999 in a championship he's never won, even though he keeps coming close. He's been runner-up a record five times.

"If I'm able -- and I believe I will -- if I'm able to ultimately win a U.S. Open, I would say that it's great. ... But if I never get that win, then it would be a bit heart-breaking," Mickelson said.

By the time Mickelson tapped in a par to complete his round, the sun had replaced clouds, and putters had long replaced squeegees. Drenching storms caused a 3-hour delay, halting play less than two hours after it began.

The rains returned while the marquee group of Tiger Woods, Adam Scott and Rory McIlroy were on the front nine, and play was stopped again at 6:11 p.m. for about 45 minutes.

Woods was 1 over at the time. He winced and shook his left arm after playing shots out of the rough on Nos. 1 and 5. The horn sounded before the three-time Open champion could finish the 5th hole, and he returned after the delay to complete a bogey and drop to 2 over.

Both Scott and McIlroy were 1 under through five. Peter Hedblom was 3 under, tied with Mickelson, through seven holes, but Mickelson and Belgium's Nicolas Colsaerts (69) were the only players in the clubhouse under par.


Merion was as challenging as advertised, despite the onslaught of storms that softened the course during the past week. The slanting greens and heavy rough valued precision over power. Ian Poulter had quite the start, with only one par spaced among four birdies and three bogeys through nine holes on the way to a 71.

Sergio Garcia birdied the 102-yard par-3 13th, but that was an aberration in a terrible start for the Spaniard, who has spent the lead-up to the tournament trying to make amends with Woods. Garcia had a quadruple bogey, double bogey and a bogey in his first five holes, but he later went birdie-eagle on the front nine on the way to a 73.

Garcia was greeted with mild applause and a few audible boos when he was introduced at the start of his round. He is playing his first tournament in the U.S. since a recent exchange with Woods hit a low point when Garcia said he would serve fried chicken if Woods came to dinner during the Open. Garcia has since apologized for the remark. He shook hands with Woods on the practice range this week and left a note in Woods' locker. He was also noticeably friendly to the gallery during Wednesday's practice round, stopping several times to sign autographs.

Garcia said he hasn't heard from Woods about the note, and he acknowledged there were hecklers in his gallery.

"I think there were a couple here and there," he said. "But there was -- I felt the people were very nice for the whole day. I think that they, almost all of them, were behind me and that was nice to see."

Cliff Kresge, a Floridian ranked No. 551 in the world, hit the first tee shot of the tournament at 6:45 a.m. The horn blew at 8:36 a.m., and thunder, lightning and downpours followed, sending everyone scurrying for cover.

Safety was a concern on a course that required fans to take long shuttle rides from remote parking lots. At a fan zone, where a replay of the limited action was on a jumbo screen, a worker used a microphone to implore an overflow crowd to move to the merchandise tent.

"We're not feeling safe having this many people in here," he told them. Many folks heeded his message and moved on.

Any major weather disruption to the championship would be a shame, given that the U.S. Open waited 32 years to return to the course where Olin Dutra overcame a serious stomach illness to win in 1934, where Ben Hogan hit the picture-perfect 1-iron approach to No. 18 before winning in a playoff in 1950, where Lee Trevino pulled a rubber snake out of his bag at the first hole of the playoff when he beat Jack Nicklaus for the title in 1971, and where David Graham became the first Australian to win the trophy in 1981.

Thought to be too small to host an Open anymore, Merion had been off the radar for so long that many of the top names in the field -- including Woods -- had never played it until recently. Organizers had to be creative with the placement of hospitality tents and parking lots on the club's relatively small footprint, and ticket sales were capped at 25,000 a day instead of the usual 40,000 or so for recent championships.

Garcia fights through tough start and wisecracks

Garcia fights through tough start and wisecracks











PGA.COM June 13, 2013 8:56 PM

.

View gallery
"I felt the people were very nice for the whole day. I think that almost all of them were behind me," …


By Jim Litke, Associated Press

ARDMORE, Pa. -- There was at least one wiseguy waiting on more than a few of the holes. Despite that, Sergio Garcia's charm offensive was mostly well received by the galleries during the opening round of the U.S. Open.

Some three weeks ago, in the midst of a hissing match withTiger Woods, the Spaniard made a racially tinged remark about inviting his rival over for dinner and serving fried chicken. Widely criticized at the time, Garcia has apologized to Woods both privately and publicly. Yet there were some lingering questions about how he'd be received at Merion Golf Club this week by a sometimes-tough Philadelphia sports crowd.

"There were a couple here and there, but there was -- I felt the people were very nice for the whole day. I think that almost all of them were behind me," Garcia said afterward, "and that was nice to see."

The same unfortunately, couldn't be said for Garcia's golf game.

He shot a 3-over-par 73 Thursday, and that after recovering from a double-bogey, quadruple-bogey stumble at Nos. 14 and 15, where Garcia hooked both of his tee shots out of bounds.


"The U.S. Open doesn't give you much room," he said, then conceded the margin for error at 14 and 15 wasn't his problem.

"The out of bounds is close, but if you hit a bad shot, even if it's far away, you're going to find it. ... I guess I was just making my week a little bit tougher," he added. "But I tried to battle as much as I could coming in."

Garcia teed off alongside Padraig Harrington and Stewart Cink amid cheers and a few scattered boos on the 11th hole at 7:44 a.m., and was cruising until the 14th. No sooner had his tee shot flown the coup at that hole than heavy rains came down and caused a 3 1/2-hour delay.

Garcia described his return this way: "Hit another 3-wood, 7-iron to about 16 feet and managed to two-putt for par.

"Sorry," he added quickly, to some laughter. "Par with the second ball."

The delay may have given the occasional hecklers around the course a chance to down a few beers and screw up their courage. As Garcia reached the first green, where he had an 8-footer for birdie, a fan holding a beer yelled, "Hey, head case! Let's see you blow it 10 feet by."


Related Images


.
Sergio Garcia, left, and Tiger Woods watch Wood's tee …View »

.
How to Make Japanese Fried ChickenView »
03:04

.
John Peterson tees off on the eighth hole during the …View »

.
Tony’s Table: A Flavor Filled Fried ChickenView »
02:08

.
Marcus Fraser, of Australia, tees off on the eighth …View »

Instead, Garcia drained the putt for birdie, then made eagle at the par-5 second hole with a big drive, another 3-wood to 16 feet and made that putt as well. That left him at 4 over.

"But then I hit a couple of bad shots," Garcia said. "So I don't know. It was a pretty flat round for most of the day."

Not for everyone, though.

As Garcia started down the No. 5 fairway, a fan lining the ropes yelled, "I ate the bones!" -- the punch line from a new round of commercials for KFC, the fast-food chain formerly known as Kentucky Fried Chicken. Yet just another 100 yards, as Garcia passed by, another fan said, "I hate Tiger, too!"

On and on it went at nearly all of the closing holes. Many fans cheered and a few expressed loud support for Garcia, only to have someone yell something like "Winner, winner, chicken dinner!" as one did standing on a patio of a pricey home alongside the sixth fairway.

The wear and tear of a long day finally seemed to show on Garcia on the par-3 ninth, his next-to-last hole. When his tee shot there fluttered off to the right and into a greenside bunker, his shoulders slumped and he walked across the tee box dragging his club behind him like a broom. Yet he hit a terrific wedge into No. 10 that bounced twice and slammed on the brakes just two feet from the hole for birdie.

If only his efforts to make up with Woods had gone that smoothly. Garcia walked over to where his rival was practicing on the range Monday and offered his hand. The two shook, and briefly exchanged a few words.

Garcia also left a note in Woods' locker. Asked if there was a response, he said simply, "No. I haven't really seen him."