Phil Mickelson Says He?ll Skip U.S. Open to Attend Daughter?s Graduation
Phil Mickelson said on Saturday that he would withdraw from the United States Open, the only major championship he has not won, to attend what he considers a more important event ? his daughter Amanda?s high school graduation.
Before his third round here at the Memorial Tournament, Mickelson said that he had informed his sponsors and Mike Davis, the executive director of the United States Golf Association, of his decision to skip this year?s tournament at Erin Hills in Wisconsin. The first round is June 15, the same day as Amanda Mickelson?s graduation from Pacific Ridge School in Carlsbad, Calif.
?As I look back on life, this is a moment I?ll always cherish and be glad I was present,? said Mickelson, who will turn 47 the day after the graduation. He added, ?There?s no greater joy as a parent.?
Mickelson and his wife, Amy, had faced similar conflicts before. The United States Open at Pinehurst in 1999 bumped up against the due date of the couple?s first child. Mickelson vowed that he would leave North Carolina no matter where he stood on the leaderboard if Amy alerted him through a beeper tucked in his caddie?s pocket that she had gone into labor back in Arizona, where the couple was living at the time.
That child was Amanda, and she arrived the day after Mickelson?s riveting final-round duel with Payne Stewart, who celebrated his win by holding Mickelson?s face and saying: ?Good luck with the baby. There?s nothing greater than being a father.?
Stewart died in an airplane accident four months after his victory at Pinehurst, and his words have lived on in Mickelson?s mind as he and Amy raised their three children.
In 2013, when Amanda?s eighth-grade commencement ceremony took place the day before the opening round of the United States Open, she told her father he didn?t need to fly back from the Philadelphia area. ?It?s the U.S. Open,? she said. ?I know how much you care about it.?
Mickelson went home anyway, attended the ceremony and returned to the tournament less than two hours before his first-round tee time. He took second in that Open as well, setting a record with six runner-up finishes.
Mickelson said that he had wrestled with the latest conflict for months and that Amanda had assured him once again that she would not mind if he were absent.
Phil Mickelson said on Saturday that he would withdraw from the United States Open, the only major championship he has not won, to attend what he considers a more important event ? his daughter Amanda?s high school graduation.
Before his third round here at the Memorial Tournament, Mickelson said that he had informed his sponsors and Mike Davis, the executive director of the United States Golf Association, of his decision to skip this year?s tournament at Erin Hills in Wisconsin. The first round is June 15, the same day as Amanda Mickelson?s graduation from Pacific Ridge School in Carlsbad, Calif.
?As I look back on life, this is a moment I?ll always cherish and be glad I was present,? said Mickelson, who will turn 47 the day after the graduation. He added, ?There?s no greater joy as a parent.?
Mickelson and his wife, Amy, had faced similar conflicts before. The United States Open at Pinehurst in 1999 bumped up against the due date of the couple?s first child. Mickelson vowed that he would leave North Carolina no matter where he stood on the leaderboard if Amy alerted him through a beeper tucked in his caddie?s pocket that she had gone into labor back in Arizona, where the couple was living at the time.
That child was Amanda, and she arrived the day after Mickelson?s riveting final-round duel with Payne Stewart, who celebrated his win by holding Mickelson?s face and saying: ?Good luck with the baby. There?s nothing greater than being a father.?
Stewart died in an airplane accident four months after his victory at Pinehurst, and his words have lived on in Mickelson?s mind as he and Amy raised their three children.
In 2013, when Amanda?s eighth-grade commencement ceremony took place the day before the opening round of the United States Open, she told her father he didn?t need to fly back from the Philadelphia area. ?It?s the U.S. Open,? she said. ?I know how much you care about it.?
Mickelson went home anyway, attended the ceremony and returned to the tournament less than two hours before his first-round tee time. He took second in that Open as well, setting a record with six runner-up finishes.
Mickelson said that he had wrestled with the latest conflict for months and that Amanda had assured him once again that she would not mind if he were absent.
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