PHIL Mickelson has confided how he would pass the time in hospital waiting rooms, trying to take his mind off far weightier matters as his wife Amy underwent tests for breast cancer, thinking about his golf swing and how he might get his game in shape for the US Open at Bethpage.
Although it remains to be seen how well Mickelson will cope with the emotion of the championship – he was already the most popular golfer in New York before his wife's illness – the left-hander reckons his swing is more or less where he wants it. "I'
ve actually been hitting the ball better than I have in a long time," he said yesterday.
"And possibly ever. I know it doesn't seem like it after my score at Memphis where I didn't score very well. But I'm really excited about how things have come along, ball-striking wise. When Amy is going through tests and I'm sitting in a hospital for ten hours, I was thinking about a lot of things. But I would take a break and think about my golf swing. I would talk to Butch (Harmon, his coach].
"Even though we didn't hit any balls, I actually got my swing to where we wanted it to be able to hit little cut shots, control my misses, and I'm very optimistic about my ball-striking this week. I think the key for me will be on the greens. I putted these greens very well in 2002, and if I have a good putting week, I expect to be in contention on Sunday."
As had seemed likely ever since he revealed last week that Amy would undergo surgery for cancer at the start of next month, Mickelson doesn't expect to travel to Scotland this summer for the Open at Turnberry.
Asked if he'd ruled out taking part in the oldest major, the former Masters champion replied: "Most likely, yeah. I would say probably August would be the earliest (to play again]. We won't know our treatment schedule after surgery until about a week or two, until we have some other tests done."
Tiger Woods spoke earlier in the week about the affection of the galleries at Bethpage providing Mickelson with a rush of adrenalin. Although it's also possible he could be worn down by all that emotion, Mickelson expects his status as a sentimental favourite will be a positive factor today.
"It could be that that support helps carry me through emotionally when I'm on the course," he said. "I'm certainly hoping for that."
The full article contains 431 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
