Associated Press
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. ó There was no smile, just a look of resignation as Phil Mickelson trudged wearily up the muddy slope off the 18th green. He was finally finished in a U.S. Open that seemed like it would never end, and the shouts of support coming from the bleachers were never going to mask the realization that another chance had slipped away.
Mickelson had somehow found yet another way to lose the one tournament he wants so desperately to win. He would leave without the trophy his ailing wife wanted him to bring home.
“Certainly I’m disappointed,” Mickelson said. “But now that it’s over, I’ve got more important things going on.”
As he approached the 18th green and a birdie putt that would have at least made things interesting, they clapped and sang to him as if they were at a Mets game.
“Let’s go, Phil. Let’s go, Phil.”
When it was all over, he stood and signed autographs until, it seemed, everyone who had a ticket had his signature. Then he signed some more for the New York state troopers who escorted him to his car.
Then it was off to the airport and his private jet. The plan was to pick up Amy and the kids for a family vacation before her surgery, then play it by ear after that.Before leaving, though, there were questions to answer. He talked about the week, the fans at Bethpage, and his disappointment at not being able to finish things off.
Finally, he was asked to describe his emotions, a task that on this day he just wasn’t up to.
“I don’t really know where to go with that,” Mickelson said. “Just that there’s some more important things going on.”