Phil Returns, Finds Comfort in Game

Phil Mickelson is back in his comfort zone, on the golf course. He is back after six weeks, while his wife, Amy, went through the first phase of treatments for breast cancer. And then his mother, partially spurred to be tested by Amy's news, found that she, too, had breast cancer.

So last we saw of Mickelson, he was at Bethpage in New York, trying to win a U.S. Open for Amy, rallying sentimental fans. And then, barely falling short. And in the six weeks since then?

"We're in a much better place than we were six weeks ago," he said. "This is going to be a long road, not something you really get over with."

Mickelson will play in the WGC Bridgestone Invitational this week in Akron, Ohio. Next week, he'll play in the PGA Championship. And the daze seems gone now. He played with it from the shocking news he had of Amy before the U.S. Open.

He was using golf then as a way to get away from his family's problems briefly. That's still the case, but maybe now it's an issue, too, of moving on, not just having everything stop.

Someone asked him how he can separate his personal issues from his professional life. How do you not take it to work with you?

"I don't know if you really separate it," he said. "I feel that ... I feel we've been fortunate because of a couple reasons. But my mom and Amy have caught it early, and we've been able to have some wonderful care. Not only have the doctors been incredible in their science, but they've also been very compassionate toward us, and it's just been ... we've had a great medical experience.

"Out of 200,000 people to get diagnosed every year, I just can't get over how many people it affects. We feel lucky to be, for a bad situation, in as good a situation as it can be."

To be honest, sometimes I'm not sure how genuine Mickelson is. He can seem awfully nicey-nice at times. Maybe too much.

But this is real. And when he talked Wednesday, he said things like that, citing numbers of people diagnosed with the disease. You could tell that these past six weeks have taken him through the learning curve on the disease, what any good husband and son would go through.



He declined to talk about his daily routine since Amy's treatments began, and also said he would respect the privacy of his wife and mother and not give details of their treatment, or their reactions to it.

"I have a lot more empathy now," he said, "realizing how many people it affects and how many people go through it."

Mickelson said he spent three or four weeks not picking up a club, meaning he has been practicing for only the past few weeks. But more and more so, he said, when he's playing, he can concentrate on the game.

"I expect to play like I always have," he said. "When I had my nursegown on, I would mentally rehearse shots and stuff to just kind of keep myself sharp, even though I wasn't touching a club."

That sounds like an escape again.

And before Wednesday, I was wondering how much longer Mickelson would continue to play on tour. He has a wife with a long-term health issue, young kids and security of all the money anyone could need. On top of that, he's 39.

How much more does he need of traveling the country and the world? But he answered that Wednesday, saying he sees it almost in an opposite way.

"I'm excited to play; I'm excited to play," he said. "I didn't realize how much I loved playing the game of golf. It's made me re-look at some of my longer-term expectations as far as if I would cut back schedule, when, at what age, all that stuff.

"It just makes me realize how much I really enjoy what I do, how much I love playing the game of golf, how much I love competing on the PGA Tour. I don't ever want to take that for granted."

For now, anyway, it's too comforting.

E-mail me at gregcouch09@aol.com