Mickelson misses title, wins fans

0 Comments | USA TODAY, June, 2009 | by Mike Lopresti

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. -- The U.S. Open had been gone barely half an hour. Somewhere, someone else was holding the silver trophy -- the one his wife had asked him to bring home, so she could have it in her hospital room.

No more golf this day for Phil Mickelson. Or tomorrow, or nobody knows when. Down the road, outside the Bethpage gates, the doctors and real life wait.

"Kind of an emotional five days," he said. "Certainly I'm disappointed, but now that it's over, I've got more important things going on."

You can still count his second places in the U.S. Open on one hand, but just barely. Monday made five. He shared the lead, and then he didn't. If you follow this sport, that might sound familiar.

"Maybe it's more in perspective for me, because I feel...