MICKELSON’S CHOICE AS CLEAR AS WEATHER
Lefty needs to confirm he’s not playing in Open
Phil Mickelson is being as selfish as he is smart this week.
With oldest daughter Amanda graduating from high school in California on Thursday, there is almost no chance Lefty makes it to the U. S. Open halfway across the country, even with a private jet on standby. He’d need a massive storm to wipe out early play for at least four hours — something that hasn’t happened in the first round since Bethpage Black in 2009.
But on the off chance the weather gods cooperate, Mickelson is waiting to officially withdraw. Which leaves Roberto Diaz preparing for a tournament he knows he might never play.
Diaz is the first alternate for this year’s Open, which means he will be the beneficiary when Mickelson finally acknowledges he can’t be in two places at once and time travel is something only seen in the movies.
“I’m not expecting him to withdraw,” Diaz said Tuesday as he made the turn
during a practice round at Erin Hills. “I’m just going to prepare to be the first one in here waiting for whoever decides to drop out if there’s somebody injured or somebody’s sick or something. ... So I’m going to be here at 6: 45 in themorning, ready to go.”
Playing in the U. S. Open could be a career changer for someone like Diaz or second alternate T. J. Howe, journeymen on golf’s smaller tours. A little- known alternate named John Daly got to play the PGA Championship at Crooked Stick in 1991, and look what that did for him.
Just getting to play practice rounds, which the U. S. Golf Association is allowing for the first time this year, has been a boon for Diaz. “At least I have the experience of practicing at a golf course that is very difficult,” he said. “On the Web. com ( Tour), we don’t get to see places like this. It’s a lot of crowds, a lot of people, the greens are rolling pretty good and rough kind of grass, blind shots. It’s a good experience. At the end of the day, even if I don’t tee it off, I’m going to benefit a lot from this week.”
Imagine how much more he’d benefit if he wasn’t in this weird state of limbo. Diaz said he is approaching this week as he does every other — except for the matter of showing up for Thursday’s first tee time prepared to spend the next eight hours waiting to see if someone is sick or injured.
Or, in Mickelson’s case, still in California.
It goes without saying that it’s admirable Mickelson would put his family first this week. The Open is the major Lefty has always wanted to win, and it’s eluded him for the better part of two decades now — often in excruciating fashion. And who can forget Pinehurst, where he carried a pager to alert him if Amanda was about to be born.
Mickelson turns 47 on Friday, and, almost four years removed from his last PGA Tour victory, he knows his chances to capture his Holy Grail are running out.
But Amanda is not only graduating Thursday, she’s also speaking at the ceremony as the class president. He said last week that it “wasn’t a hard decision” to choose that over Erin Hills.
Except that he really hasn’t chosen. Not officially, anyway.
This isn’t like four years ago, when Mickelson flew cross- country to Merion after watching Amanda graduate from eighth grade on a Wednesday night. The only chance he has to get to Wisconsin is a severe storm.
That a storm would be bad enough to interrupt play for four hours or longer but not wreak corresponding havoc on air traffic seems implausible to me.
It was fine to keep his options open last week, with long- term forecasts about as reliable as a fortune teller. But it’s Wednesday, and the forecast looks clear. There’s no longer reason for Mickelson to put off that call to USGA officials.
He has Father of the Year locked up. Let someone else have a shot at the U. S. Open title.