Phil Mickelson Withdraws From U.S. Open To Attend Daughter’s Graduation

Phil Mickelson formally pulled out of the U.S. Open on Thursday morning, citing his daughter’s high school graduation in California as his reason for missing the golf tournament in Erin Hills, Wisconsin.

Phil Mickelson Pulls Out of U.S. Open

This marks the first year the five-time major championship winner — who will be 47 on Friday — has missed the U.S. Open since he failed to qualify in 1993. It is also Mickelson’s first missed major since the 2009 Open.

Mickelson seemed to hope that, given the possibility of storms over Wisconsin, there could be a four-hour delay that would permit him to attend his daughter’s ceremony. His daughter Amanda is s senior class president at Pacific Ridge School in Carlsbad, California, and is set to give a commencement speech.

However, the U.S. Open began on Thursday with sunshine and almost no threat of inclement weather all day.

Roberto Diaz, a 30-year-old Mexican, replaced Mickelson for his 2:20 pm (CST) tee time.

Mickelson boasts the U.S. Open record with six second-place finishes in 23 straight years, and it’s the only major he has yet to capture in order to complete a career Grand Slam. (He has also won three Masters and a PGA Championship). The San Diego native says he desperately wants to win the Open, although he knows this is a special circumstance.

“It’s a tournament that I want to win the most,” Mickelson said two weeks ago when he first revealed the scheduling conflict. “The only way to win is if you play and have a chance. But this is one of those moments where you look back on life and you just don’t want to miss it. I’ll be really glad that I was there and present.”

The US Golf Association (USGA) didn’t require Mickelson to make any formal announcement regarding his decision to withdraw from the tournament. He stated last week that his daughter’s graduation was scheduled for 10 am PST on Thursday.

Mickelson also nearly pulled out of the 1999 U.S. Open after his wife Amy was about to give birth to Amanda just before the tournament began. He said he was prepared to leave mid-Open if necessary. Payne Stewart ended up making a 15-foot par putt on the last hole to defeat Mickelson that year.

Amanda was born the following day.

Mickelson stated he is confident he will be able to win the U.S. Open sometime in the next few years.

Here are the coverage details for his year’s U.S. Open:

TV: 11 a.m.- 6 p.m. ET on FS1, 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. ET on Fox

Live Stream: Fox Sports GO, USOpen.com

Additionally, here is the full schedule for Thursday (Day 1) at Erin Hills:

2017 U.S. Open tee times, pairings for Thursday (all tee times ET)

Tee No. 1

7:45 a.m.—Jordan Niebrugge, Talor Gooch, Kevin Dougherty

7:56 a.m.—Andres Romero, Brice Garnett, Davis Love IV

8:07 a.m.—Yusaku Miyazato, J.T. Poston, Aaron Rai

8:18 a.m.—David Lingmerth, Paul Dunne, Haotong Li

8:29 a.m.—Stewart Hagestad, Chez Reavie, Gene Sauers

8:40 a.m.—Brandt Snedeker, Alex Noren, Tyrrell Hatton

8:51 a.m.—Rafael Cabrera-Bello, Thomas Pieters, Brooks Koepka

9:02 a.m.—Gary Woodland, J.B. Holmes, Jason Kokrak

9:13 a.m.—Russell Knox, Scott Gregory, Martin Laird

9:24 a.m.—Kevin Kisner, Billy Horschel, Branden Grace

9:35 a.m.—Webb Simpson, Ernie Els, Lucas Glover

9:46 a.m.—Tyson Alexander, Christopher Crawford, Max Greyserman

9:57 a.m.—Matthew Campbell, Garrett Osborn, Walker Lee

1:30 p.m.—Jack Maguire, Corey Conners, Ben Kohles

1:41 p.m.—Eddie Pepperell, Chan Kim, Gregory Bourdy

1:52 p.m.—Jhonattan Vegas, Yuta Ikeda, Sean O’Hair

2:03 p.m.—Andrew Johnston, Brian Stuard, George Coetzee

2:14 p.m.—Marc Leishman, Pat Perez, Si Woo Kim

2:25 p.m.—Russell Henley, Scottie Scheffler, Harris English

2:36 p.m.—Bubba Watson, Adam Scott, Sergio Garcia

2:47 p.m.—Henrik Stenson, Charl Schwartzel, Louis Oosthuizen

2:58 p.m.—Jimmy Walker, Justin Thomas, Paul Casey

3:09 p.m.—Jason Day, Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy

3:20 p.m.—Steve Stricker, Stewart Cink, Phil Mickelson

3:31 p.m.—Ryan Brehm, John Oda, Jonathan Randolph

3:42 p.m.—Mason Andersen, Derek Barron, Roman Robledo

Tee No. 10

7:45 a.m.—Ted Potter Jr., Daniel Chopra, Meen Whee Kim

7:56 a.m.—Shugo Imahira, Matthew Wallace, Ryan Palmer

8:07 a.m.—Charley Hoffman, Jason Dufner, Hideto Tanihara

8:18 a.m.—Jeunghun Wang, Thomas Aiken, Bradley Dredge

8:29 a.m.—Scott Harvey, Jamie Lovemark, Michael Putnam

8:40 a.m.—Brian Harman, Tommy Fleetwood, Bud Cauley

8:51 a.m.—Hideki Matsuyama, Rickie Fowler, Jon Rahm

9:02 a.m.—Lee Westwood, Ross Fisher, Graeme McDowell

9:13 a.m.—Danny Willett, Zach Johnson, Angel Cabrera

9:24 a.m.—Matt Kuchar, Francesco Molinari, Patrick Reed

9:35 a.m.—Martin Kaymer, Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson

9:46 a.m.—Joaquin Niemann, Stephan Jaeger, Joel Stalter

9:57 a.m.—Daniel Miernicki, Sahith Theegala, Tyler Light

1:30 p.m.—Wade Ormsby, Oliver Bekker, Kyle Thompson

1:41 p.m.—Brandon Stone, Troy Merritt, Chris Wood

1:52 p.m.—Satoshi Kodaira, Daniel Summerhays, Alexander Levy

2:03 p.m.—William McGirt, Keegan Bradley, Kevin Na

2:14 p.m.—Brad Dalke, Wesley Bryan, Brendan Steele

2:25 p.m.—Nick Flanagan, Richie Ramsay, Bryson DeChambeau

2:36 p.m.—Daniel Berger, Roberto Castro, Bill Haas

2:47 p.m.—Adam Hadwin, Emiliano Grillo, Cheng-Tsung Pan

2:58 p.m.—Scott Piercy, Shane Lowry, Jim Furyk

3:09 p.m.—Matthew Fitzpatrick, Peter Uihlein, Byeong Hun An

3:20 p.m.—Kevin Chappell, Maverick McNealy, Bernd Wiesberger

3:31 p.m.—Xander Schauffele, Trey Mullinax, Cameron Champ

3:42 p.m.—Sam Ryder, Alex Smalley, Andy Pope

Johnson is the world No. 1 right now, having won last year’s U.S. Open at Oakmont and winning several other events since then, including a victory at the Genesis Open in California in February and claiming top honors at two straight World Golf Championship tournaments, one of which was in Mexico.

Johnson missed this year’s Masters after injuring his back. Nevertheless, OddsShark has him as the favorite to win this year’s U.S. Open.

Spieth, 23, won the Masters and the Open in 2015, but has not won a major since.

Here is the schedule for Round 2 on Friday:

Round 2 — Friday

Start time: 7:45 a.m.

Live TV coverage: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on FS1 | 6-9 p.m. on FOX
TV simulcast online: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on FoxSportsGo.com and Fox Sports Go app

Featured Group 1: 8:45 a.m. to 8 p.m. on USOpen.com
Featured Group 2: 9:20 a.m. to 8 p.m. on USOpen.com
Featured Holes: 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on USOpen.com.

LA QUINTA, CA – JANUARY 19: Phil Mickelson plays his shot from the second tee during the first round of the CareerBuilder Challenge in Partnership with The Clinton Foundation at La Quinta Country Club on January 19, 2017 in La Quinta, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

Article by Pablo Mena