Mickelson fans out of luck on Thursday
Photo credit: Newsday Photo / J. Conrad Williams Jr. | An overview of Black Course at Bethpage State Park.
As if the weather wasn't bad enough, fans who came to yesterday's U.S. Open didn't even get to see their favorite golfer.
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Phil Mickelson didn't even need to come to Bethpage Black before play was suspended for the day. His 1:36 tee time was going to be pushed back anyway when play was halted at 10:16, so he wasn't on the grounds when the entire day was called just before 2 p.m.
"It was windy and rainy today so I don't see how it can be any harder tomorrow," Mickelson said on his Web site. "This gives me an opportunity to play maybe as many as 30 holes in one day and I love that. It'll give me a chance to get a little momentum going."
If you want to come out and see Mickelson Friday, he'll be going off at 11:06 a.m. He's paired with two-time Open champions Retief Goosen and Ernie Els, and he'll be starting on the 10th tee.
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That's where Mickelson began his practice round on Wednesday, and where the 2009 U.S. Open Phil-fest began. He was greeted with a loud round of applause at the 10th when his name was announced, then the crowds followed him all the way around his 18-hole practice day.
After it was done, Mickelson patiently signed hundreds of autographs, as he had promised the numerous seekers along through his round.
Mickelson will go out Friday without his wife, Amy, on hand to support him after she was diagnosed with breast cancer on May 20. It will be the first U.S. Open Amy has missed since 1999, when she was about to give birth to the couple's first child, Amanda.
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"That was a week where we were excited about what's to come," Mickelson said Wednesday. He finished second to Payne Stewart in 1999 at Pinehurst. "This is an entirely opposite feel, because we're scared about what's going to come. So it's different."
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