Mickelson set to return for US Open

AFTER what happened at Augusta in April everybody in golf was looking forward to the coming US Open on New York’s Long Island.

Not primarily to see whether Angel Cabrera could win again or whether Kenny Perry could go close again, but to see Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in action again – and hopefully against each other again.

Now that possibility is alive once more following the news that Mickelson, who announced an “indefinite” break from golf after his wife Amy was diagnosed with breast cancer last month, is set to return in Memphis next week and then plans to move on to Bethpage Black – the only course on which Woods and him have finished first and second in a major championship.

The world number two has written on his website: “It is believed that we caught this early. We are anxiously waiting for a number of test results that will help guide us in the best possible direction.

“Amy is such a supportive and loving life partner. She has always put me and our family first. Now it’s time for her and her health to come first as we face this challenge together.”

If he had decided to stay with her at home in two weeks’ time it would have been the first major he missed since the 1994 Masters.

With surgery planned for the end of this month there still remains a question mark over his participation in The Open at Turnberry next month.

Unlike so many of his fellow Americans, Mickelson has not missed one of those since 1993, the year after he turned professional.

He and Amy, a former cheerleader for the Phoenix Suns basketball team, were married three years later and it was eight years before they were able to celebrate a major title together – after no fewer than 17 top-10 finishes.

At Bethpage seven years ago Mickelson lost by three to his greatest rival, but such was the ovation he received from perhaps the most raucous crowds in golf that he described the week as “a wonderful experience” and the final round as “one of the most exciting days I’ve had in the game of golf”.

“It was very electrifying, very similar to what the ‘99 Ryder Cup in Boston was,” he said. “It was an incredible feeling – I could feel the electricity in the air.

“The people of New York helped me or gave me one of the most incredible experiences that I’ve had in this game.”

He would have been licking his lips at the thought of going back regardless of what happened at Augusta, but events there made it an even more mouth-watering prospect.

Both Mickelson and Woods were seven strokes behind with a round to go, but the left-hander covered the front nine in a record-equalling 30 and with two to play both were only one back.

It did not end as they wanted – Woods’ two bogeys dropped him to sixth and Mickelson’s bogey at the last put him fifth – yet for thrilling action there was nothing to match their charges.

You never know what’s around the corner, though, and family matters put everything into perspective.

Woods’ one missed cut in a major since he left the amateur ranks was the 2006 US Open a month after the death of his father.

Mickelson was ready to pull out of the same event in 1999 as Amy was about to give birth to their first child – and might well have missed the Monday play-off if Payne Stewart had failed to hole his winning putt on the last.

“There’s going to be a US Open every year. The birth of my child was an experience that I will cherish for the rest of my life,” he said after daughter Amanda was born.

Two other children, Sophia and Evan, followed, but the birth of their son was a frightening time in which mother and baby both nearly died after she suffered a ruptured artery in her uterus.

Mickelson later revealed that he overheard nurses whispering how sad it was that the children would grow up without their mother.

He wrote in his book “One Magical Sunday”: “After almost losing them both, here they are sharing in this wonderful, almost miraculous moment.

“And I realise that winning the Masters, as great as it feels, isn’t the most important thing in my life.”

Darren Clarke, whose wife Heather died of breast cancer just before the 2006 Ryder Cup, has spoken to Mickelson since news of Amy’s illness was made public.

And, as was the case with the Northern Irishman, the golf community has immediately leapt into action with shows of support.

A week last Sunday John Daly wore pink trousers at Wentworth and Rory Sabbatini a pink shirt as he won in Texas.

Pink ribbons were distributed and this past Saturday at the Colonial tournament pink was the designated colour of the day as it was on the Friday of the Irish Open three weeks ago.

“It is hard to describe how much the outpouring of support has meant to us,” Mickelson wrote on his website.

“When we heard about the ‘Pink Out’ (in Fort Worth) we both had tears rolling down our faces.

“This is such an incredibly thoughtful gesture, not only for Amy, but for the 200,000 women who are diagnosed with breast cancer each year.”

Amy then added on Saturday: “We have been home watching the golf at Colonial surrounded by loved ones.

“Every time we see a player, caddy, announcer or fan wearing pink we are overwhelmed by the love and support we feel. It has been a very humbling day.

“The 11 days since we received the diagnosis have been very difficult, but this incredible gesture helps us feel so much stronger.

“We are determined to overcome this.”