When Phil Mickelson said last week that he was going to skip the 117th U.S. Open to attend his daughter Amanda's high school graduation, I thought it was a ruse. I still feel that way, but there are other factors tipping my thoughts in a different direction this week.
First, there was a petition created for Pacific Ridge High School to move the graduation away from Thursday morning (who has a high school graduation on a Thursday morning?!) to the Wednesday before the U.S. Open so Mickelson could fly cross-country like he did at Merion in 2013 to contend.
As of this writing, that petition on Change.org has just over 1,500 supporters.
However, Ryan Lavner of Golf Channel reported this week that Pacific Ridge had no plans to move the graduation for its 105(ish) graduating seniors.
"We take confidentiality seriously and do not comment on our students or families out of respect for their privacy," the school said in a statement. "We look forward to celebrating the Class of 2017 on June 15th."
So how does this end? Who blinks first? I'm fascinated by the entire thing, and I think it's hilarious that even a wealthy, mega-celebrity like Mickelson doesn't have much sway over the choices a high school makes. There are only 105 students in the class. Hold it in Mickelson's living room!
Alas, it's looking more and more like Mickelson will in fact miss his first U.S. Open since 1993. Lefty has a record six runner-up finishes at this event and needs only this tournament to complete the career grand slam.
