Emotional Mickelson back out on Tour at St. Jude Classic

Mike Dudurich

Posted 2009-06-10

Phil Mickelson took a redeye flight from San Diego to New York Monday night to enable him to get an early look at Bethpage Black, the site of next week’s U.S. Open.

Mickelson brought those red eyes with him Wednesday to Memphis where he held a press conference prior to the start this week’s St. Jude Classic. On this day, the eyes had nothing to do with the overnight, cross-country flight.

This was his first public appearance since the announcement that his wife, Amy, had been diagnosed with breast cancer. The terrifying diagnosis, made May 20, has made national and international headlines. But it’s rocked the world of the No. 2-ranked player and the enormity of those tremors could be seen on his face.

“Well, I mean, we're scared, yeah. I think a lot of it is the unknown. You know, we've learned a lot in the last couple of weeks. We believe we have incredible doctors,” Mickelson said. ”We believe that we've caught this early. We won't know this until a week or two after surgery, until some more pathology tests have been done.

“Yeah, we're certainly scared. It's just that, you know, off the course I've never felt something like this.

I think it's as hard or harder for somebody on the side. I would much rather be going through it and doing it myself than seeing somebody I care about so much go through it. I think that's difficult, yeah.”

It was obvious on his face and in his eyes just how difficult this experience has been for Mickelson and when the big lefthander made another big admission during the press session, it was obvious just how much more difficult this was than blowing the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot.

“It is difficult to separate things at times,” Mickelson said. “But these last three weeks have been -- kind of an interesting thing is I've never felt this emotional. I've never been this emotional where if I'm driving alone or what have you, I'll just start crying. It's kind of a weird thing.

Mickelson told the world that Amy will start her treatment July 1 when she has surgery. Within a few weeks they’ll know what direction will be necessary from there: chemotherapy, radiation or a combination of both. That’s why about the only thing certain about his golf for this year is that he’ll play this week and then at Bethpage.

After that, it’s all up in the air.

“In the meantime, I'm going to play these two weeks,” he said. “She's going to have a nice time here this week. My parents are taking the kids camping and she's going to have a little bit of time with a couple of her close friends and family. We'll have a vacation a week before the surgery with our kids in a tropical area for a number of days before this gets started. We had a number of family trips planned this summer that obviously have been canceled. We're going to try to squeeze one in before we start our treatment.”

There is no small bit of irony in the fact that Mickelson is playing in the St. Jude Classic, whose major charity beneficiary is St. Jude Hospital. That institution is one of the great children’s cancer centers in the world.

“I think it probably is fairly fitting that I'm playing this week,” he said. “I've always been touched by children's cancer. I think that the amount of science, medicine and research that has been done over the years has made significant strides to the point where we're at today we have such a better chance of beating this and living a long, full life, that we're fortunate because of research centers like St. Jude's.”

Mickelson made it clear that he’s not in Memphis this week or will he be in New York next week just to play.

“I'm not playing just to play,” he said. “I think Bethpage is a golf course that suits my game, that I love playing on that course, I love playing in the New York area. I'm playing here because I believe I can win next week. Again, there are a lot of question marks that I'll have. But that's the goal.

“But for me I just need to get back to competition. I missed a couple of events. I haven't played in five or six weeks. I need to get a little bit in a competitive frame of mind if I expect to have any chance next week.”

Throughout his dialogue with the media, Mickelson referred to he and his wife’s battle as “our.” That’s not necessarily an unusual thing because Amy’s battle is not one suited to a single fighter.

“We're married. We're going to go through this together. She's always been there for me. She's always been there for her friends and family. It's our turn to be there for her,” Mickelson said.

And even though Mickelson will be going for his first Open title next week after four second-place finishes there’s little chance Amy and their children will accompany him there.

“I think it's difficult to face a lot of people,” Mickelson said, his voice slightly cracking and eyes welling up a bit. “It's emotional. When you see people, and they're crying and so forth, it's just not easy to go through that. So I don't expect that to happen.”

Chances are good that the guy anointed as “the people’s choice” in 2002 at Bethpage will be an even stronger favorite next week.

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About Mike...
As a sports writer for over 35 years, Mike Dudurich has seen a lot of great things, covered spectacular events, but his passion is, and has been golf. He recently ended a 29-year career at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and will now be a frequent contributor on GolfGearReview.com. Mike hosts a weekly golf radio show on 1250 ESPN in Pittsburgh from the beginning of April through the end of August. The show airs Saturdays from 8-9 a.m. and can be heard online at http://stations.espn.go.com/stations/espnradio1250/show?showId=insidepghgolf - Listen to Mike Here!.

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