Huber Blog: Digging down deep to find out why Phil's here

TNT's Emmy Award-winning essayist Jim Huber is in Southampton, N.Y., for the 109th U.S. Open, and each day he will report on what he saw, heard and felt at Bethpage Black. This is his second edition.

By Jim Huber, Special to PGA.com

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. -- So where does a guy go to get away from the things that haunt his life?

There have been those, a vocal few, who have questioned Phil Mickelson's early return to golf. If his wife Amy's breast cancer is so daunting, so frightening, why leave her for any longer than it takes to fetch her a glass of water?

Stay, they mutter, stay and surround her with all the love and affection and caring you can summon.


To understand, then, why he played last week at the St. Jude and why he will tee it up here Thursday as one of the favorites in the U. S.Open at Bethpage Black, you must understand the timing.

The diagnosis came a month ago and the golf world first shuddered and cried and then gathered itself as a supportive force. The great Pink Out at Colonial was the first step.

"I had to come back to show my appreciation for that," Mickelson said here Wednesday. "It was just the nicest thing that we have seen and it meant a lot."

These two weeks also offer a bit of normalcy for the Mickelsons as they point toward the first stages of treatment in a week or so.

"We want to keep life as normal as we could," he said. "We're going to go through treatment. We're optimistic what the end result will be. But the process itself won't be easy and in the interim, though, we want to try to have as normal a life as possible."

So it is the timing. Diagnosis, depression, thanksgiving, normalcy, treatment, recovery, return.

This will likely be his last event before August, at best. He said he probably will miss the Open Championship at Turnberry next month but could be back at Hazeltine for the PGA Championship.

And so, with Amy and the children back home for the first time in his married life for a major, he will turn for support to the vocal masses who will line his fairways with adoration.

That, then, is where he goes to get away from what haunts him. Up to his knees in Long Island hay, up to his heart in glad tidings. 

SECURITY STILL ON DISPLAY: Much of the same harsh security that was evident here for the U.S. Open in 2002 in the direct aftermath of 9-11 remains this week. Two large cement mixers, for instance, are strategically placed on every direct entrance to the park, with just enough room for shuttles to maneuver between them. In the event of a "problem," they can be altered to block the road entirely within seconds.

It seems forever ago and the dark clouds that hung over the New York City area seven years ago are nowhere near as threatening today.

But one can never be too careful, apparently.

THINKING ABOUT THE RAIN ALREADY: Every player in the field of 156 is talking about Thursday and not because of first-round excitement but opening-day storms.

"Gonna be a long day, friend," said Ernie Els. "And you know who're gonna be the heroes tomorrow? The caddies."

Heavy rain is expected to inundate an already-saturated Bethpage Black overnight, making an already soggy course twice as mucky.

So how does one prepare?

"Five years on the European tour might be nice," laughed Justin Rose.

"I just go back to my childhood when I wouldn't come in from the course, even during storms," said Anthony Kim.

"I just think back seven years here," chuckled Els. "Remember the storms on Friday?"

Only one problem: the course wasn't already full of water back then. This time, it could become almost unplayable quickly.

Jim Huber is an Emmy Award-winning announcer with TNT. Check back during the 109th U.S. Open for more of his insights and observations from Bethpage Black.

The views and opinions expressed here do not reflect those of PGA.com, PGATOUR.com or The PGA of America.