Fans make extra-long day extra-special for Mickelson

Phil Mickelson slogged through 29 holes Friday, but he was energized all day long by the fist pumps, shouts of encouragement and thunderous applause he received everywhere he went.

By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. -- Even in the far reaches of this sprawling golf course, which stretches into two different counties, and even though Phil Mickelson played 29 holes on Friday, the fans turned out in abundance.

“I love you, Phil,” a surprisingly deep voice yelled at one hole. Into the silence before his opening tee shot of the second round, another bellowed simply “Phil is great.” Fist pumps and thunderous applause greeted his arrival at every tee and green.

New York loves Phil Mickelson. It’s as simple as that and he rewarded his fans by shooting 1 under in his first round Friday and playing 11 more in even par before darkness halted play in the 109th U.S. Open.

Did he see the pink ribbons on the scoreboards? That would be a definite yes. Does he hear what the fans say as he walks down the fairway?

“It’s hard to miss it,” Mickelson said with a grin. “You know, it’s not like they whisper it. But it’s very flattering and very cool.”

Mickelson had talked earlier in the week about how the fans would be his support system since his wife Amy, four weeks after being diagnosed with breast cancer, was home in San Diego with their three kids. Those fans took his words to heart.

“It was an amazing day with the way people treated everybody, but I certainly felt it,” Mickelson said. “Tremendous. I don’t even know how to say it. The people here have treated me and Amy and my family so well, it’s been amazing.

“And I just love playing golf here. I love coming up to this area. I think all sports teams love playing in front of these people here. They are some of the best sports fans in the country.”
 
And Mickelson spent his rare Thursday off doing what many of those fans might have done if their rounds on the Black Course at Bethpage State Park had been rained out.

He went to see “The Taking of Pelham 123” -- “I had already seen ‘Hangover,’ Mickelson joked -- and he went to Borders to stock up on some DVDs and books.

“Oh, and I went and worked out, too,” Mickelson said with a sly smile. “I don’t want to leave that one out.”

Once he finally got to start his first round about 18 hours late, Mickelson didn’t show too many signs of rust. He had played last week at the St. Jude Classic presented by FedEx because he wanted to get some competition in and the results were mixed.

Mickelson was very steady on this sun-drenched Friday, though.

The big lefthander was 3 under through 14 holes before making consecutive bogeys and shooting 69.  About an hour later, he teed off in the second round and made three birdies in a four-hole stretch to rally from a double at No. 2 and head to the hotel 1 under.

“I think I got the good end of the tee times,” Mickelson said. “We had some great conditions to play golf and make birdies. The course was soft, and that helped us and without much wind, we were able to see a lot of scores under par.

“I thought I played very well. I struggled on the greens and I turned it around the last six or seven holes. I think I’m striking the ball well but I just need to make a few putts, and if that happens, I think I’ll have a good chance on the weekend.”

Mickelson, who is five strokes off the lead held by Lucas Glover, said the Black Course played easier than he anticipated due to the heavy rain it absorbed on Thursday. Well-hit balls didn’t run out of the fairway and the greens were holding approach shots.

“They were rolling pretty good and I should have made some of the putts that I missed,” Mickelson said. “Other than that I felt like I got into the round well and I felt like I was able to focus on the shot at hand and play well.”

Small wonder then that Mickelson would have loved to have played more golf. He’ll get his chance at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday as the USGA races to beat the weather that’s expected to arrive after noon and continue into Sunday.

“I don’t feel tired,” Mickelson said. “I want to play more golf because we have great conditions to play. It’s not going to get any better. It’s not going to get any easier than it is right now for us. We wanted to play as many holes as we could.”

So did his many fans.