SteveElling

The occasionally frosty relationship between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson has thawed, if not evolved into an outright armistice, bordering on a comfortable alliance.

Over the past year or two, the game's two biggest guns have become downright tolerant of one another, exchanging good-natured taunts and barbs, not to mention gifts and condolences. It has made for entertaining theater at times.

When Woods' first child was born, Mickelson sent a kid-sized ping-pong table as a gift. It also doubled as a reminder of sorts that Lefty had schooled Woods in ping-pong in the team room at a previous cup competition. Woods recently sent Mickelson some conciliatory text messages when it was learned that Lefty's wife and mother had cancer. Woods' father died of the same ailment. 

Seated near one another at the interview-roon dais at the Presidents Cup last month, Woods kept looking down at the tabletop and smirking, shaking his head whenever Mickelson offered some crazy answer to a media question. It's easy to tell that they have come to enjoy giving each other the needle.

Another example came this week in China, where both are playing in the HSBC Champions in Shanghai. Woody and Lefty appeared at a publicity stunt along the waterfront two days before the tournament started and Woods couldn't resist offering up a little trash talk. Here's the text of the barb, offered as Mickelson was nearby, grinning.

Question: With golf becoming an official Olympic sport, will you compete to win a medal in 2016?

Woods: "Well, I have to qualify first in 2016. Christ, I'll be 40 years old in 2016."

Moderator: "Still young."

Woods: "Younger than Phil." (Laughter).

It's interesting to note that, over the years, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus became friends after fiercely competing on the course and in the business world for decades. Maybe that's finally happening with Woods and Mickelson, who have more in common than they might believe.

With young guns Rickie Fowler and Jamie Lovemark given last-minute reprieves into the event via other means, tournament officials at Walt Disney World went a different direction with their last free pass into next week’s PGA Tour season finale.

Yet the recipient’s name, if not the story, ought to be familiar by now. 

The Children’s Miracle Network Classic on Tuesday gave an invitation to medical marvel Erik Compton, who for the second year in a row received one of the event’s four sponsor exemptions.

On May 20, 2008, Compton received his second heart transplant and was competing in tour-sanctioned events an astounding five months later, a compelling story that generated headlines throughout golf. The former University of Georgia standout is the only known professional sports figure to have competed after having undergone two heart transplant surgeries. 

The Disney event marks his fifth PGA Tour appearance of 2009. He missed the cut in Puerto Rico and the Arnold Palmer Invitational, but finished T44 at his hometown Honda Classic and was T76 at the Memorial Tournament. He made the cut last year at Disney.

Last week, Compton won a first-stage event in the annual PGA Tour Qualifying School by seven strokes, a key step in securing a spot on a sanctioned tour in 2010. 

Disney tournament officials for days were weighing who to hand the last of their invitations, but when the Viking Classic was rained out last week, up-and-coming hotshots Fowler and Lovemark were automatically added to the Disney field, which meant they didn’t need an exemption to play. The two former college stars lost in a playoff a week earlier at the Frys.com Open in Arizona, giving Fowler two top-seven finishes on tour in as many pro starts.

The Viking Classic rainout helped opened the door for Compton, who turns 30 on Nov. 11, the day before the Disney tournament begins.
In April, Compton received the Ben Hogan Award from the Golf Writers Association of America, given annually to a player who has remained active in the game despite a handicap or serious illness.

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -- He could have gone in any of a variety of directions.

Cornered at the World Golf Hall of Fame induction ceremony for the class of 2009, Tim Finchem wanted no part in any hot-button discussion regarding a guy who won't be setting foot inside the hallowed hall. Unless he buys a ticket.

The loquacious commissioner of the PGA Tour, who for years resisted testing for performance-enhancing drugs because he believed there was no reason to believe cheating was taking place among his players, was uncharacteristically mum when one of his players finally flunked an exam.

Was this inevitable?

Was he disappointed or embarrassed?

What about surprised?

He stood there looking at three 80 mph fastballs fired over the plate by yours truly and didn’t take the bat off his shoulder, even though he quite likely should have been swinging from the heels as a means of defending the sanctity of the game.

"I don’t have anything to say," Finchem said.

How about, "OK, so maybe I was wrong."

In what is believed to be the longest disciplinary suspension ever meted out by the tour, journeyman Doug Barron on Monday was suspended for one year for testing positive for undisclosed performance-enhancing drugs, the first player banned under the new doping policy.

In a way, perhaps it's understandable that a player like Barron was the first player ever to be benched for violating the new edict. His career was fading faster than a 40-handicapper's tee ball. Barron, 40, made 238 career starts over his career in the game's big leagues, but has been mostly stuck on the developmental Nationwide circuit for three seasons. Barron had last played fulltime on the PGA Tour in 2006 and was fighting to revive his career.

Prominent or hugely relevant, he isn't, but that didn't minimize the potential news impact.

The tour, which implemented the anti-doping policy in mid-2008, issued scant details, including what banned substance was involved. The tour has a lengthy appeals process, which involves testing of a B sample, so the positive test result could have taken place months ago. Barron's suspension was effective immediately, which in a perverse twist means he'll make as much money in tour-sanctioned events in 2010 as he did in 2009 -- zero.

Barron played four times this year on the Nationwide and once on the PGA Tour and didn’t make a cut. The Nationwide began testing for drugs in September, 2008.

Approached before the ceremony, Finchem didn’t offer any opinion, much less illumination, on the tour's public-relations black eye.

"I don’t have anything to say," Finchem said. "Nothing I can say, no comment. It is what it is; all you need is right there in the statement."

Not exactly. Finchem resisted the implementation of testing for years, claiming he was personally certain that golf didn’t have the same cheating issues as other sports. It has a different culture, he insisted, where honesty rules the day.

For sure, one positive test isn't much in this era of blood transfusions and hyperactive hypodermics, but Barron's it nonetheless test results certainly besmirched the reputation of the game and put a dent in Finchem's holier-than-thou persona.

Barron wasn't exactly a beacon of clarity on the matter.

"I would like to apologize for any negative perception of the tour or its players resulting from my suspension," Barron was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the tour. "I want my fellow tour members and the fans to know that I did not intend to gain an unfair competitive advantage or enhance my performance while on tour."

Art Horne, Barron's agent, said his client and the tour agreed not to say much on the matter, including whether Barron tested positive accidentally, which seems to be the implication.

"I wish I could say more, but I can't," Horne said.

Or won't. The tour stated when the policy was adopted that it would "out" the players who tested positive, but the organization stopped far short of telling the whole story. He took a performance-enhancing drug, but wasn't seeking to gain a competitive edge?

Barron isn't exactly the rippling-muscle type. In fact, he looks like an average schlub.

"One of the funniest things I've heard today is when one of his friends called him to say, 'If you were trying to build more muscles, you did a pretty bad job,'" Horne said.

There was some collateral damage. The Barron news, to a large degree, cut the publicity legs out from under the World Golf Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Monday in St. Augustine, which had some staffers at the museum rightly grousing about the timing, since this is the biggest day of the year for the game's shrine.

Finchem indicated that he waited to make the Barron announcement until he informed the PGA Tour Policy Board, which met earlier Monday in a nearby hotel at the World Golf Village.

"I took the opportunity to inform the board beforehand," he said.

At least he told somebody about it, right?

Forever and ever, as it relates to gaudy corporate signage and material marketing things, the purity of the Masters has been held sacrosanct.

In fact, Augusta National even re-labels the bottled water sold at the course with a generic Masters logo. There are no free plugs allowed for the beer, food or corporate sponsors at the club's green-grass cathedral.

They didn't say no-go to the logos at their latest tournament venture, though.

Check out the photo from the first round of the club's newest game-growing venture, the Asian Amateur Championship, which began Thursday in Hong Kong amid much ado on the new tournament web page.

See the fourth photo down: http://www.asianamateurchampionship
.com/en.aspx

Evidently, Augusta National and the R&A, who jointly are running the event, don't mind growing some waistlines along with the global game itself. After all, a starchy diet based on rice isn't as delicious as a few hundred grams of All-American saturated fat and deep-fried fun. Old Colonel Sanders is one of four corporate sponsors.

There's nothing at all wrong with having sponsors to defray costs of a worthy project, mind you. It's just that the photo was jarring because of the corporate contrast with the decades-old Masters mindset.

For the ANGC members in Augusta, this might be a good weekend to hit the course, because half the greenjackets are overseas. Among the identifiable members in the AAC photo are club chairman Billy Payne, former USGA chief Fred Ridley, and longtime members Johnny Harris, Craig Heatley, Jeff Knox and Rob Johnson.

The new commissioner of the LPGA is being presented Wednesday morning in New York City.

Clearly, indroductions are needed.

With a background that includes positions in the toothpaste, hockey- and golf-equipment businesses, the LPGA rolled out 44-year-old Michael Whan as its replacement for the ousted Carolyn Bivens, who resigned at midsummer amidst a nasty player mutiny.

If you said "What?" when you read Whan, you are not alone.

His name had not surfaced in reports and he wasn't on anybody's known short list of candidates. Not that many outlets were tracking the search, in all honesty.

Golfworld magazine said the hiring was "a bit of a surprise," which might be selling it short. There were numerous dalliances with more public sports figures along the way, including WNBA president Donna Orender, a former PGA Tour official who declined interest early in the search process, and Peter Bevaqua, the chief business officer at the USGA. Former U.S. Tennis Association president Arlen Kantarian was also considered, according to reports.

CBSSports.com learned at mid-summer that Cindy Davis, who runs Nike's golf division, was offered the job soon after Bivens retired. Bob Wood, who preceded Davis at Nike, said his successor wasn't even asked to interview for the position before it was proffered, but that she quickly elected to stay put.

While he has experience at golf manufacturers Wilson and TaylorMade, Whan's background also includes a stint at a company that made a teeth-whitening product.

He'll need to fast put a million-kilowatt smile on the fading LPGA to rescue the tour's foundering ship, which is what got Bivens ousted in the first place.

As they might say up the road in Napa, located a few miles north of San Francisco, so much for giving the U.S. victory some room to breathe.

One day after the eighth Presidents Cup was completed, the folks steering the ship at that other little team soiree held a press conference in Wales to talk about the 2010 Ryder Cup, and it fast became apparent that the European side was monitoring the progress of their future American foes.

In fact, appearing at Celtic Manor, the site of the Ryder matches in 12 months' time, it was clear that captain Colin Montgomerie took great notice of Tiger Woods' 5-0 performance at Harding Park in San Francisco.

"Well, it's very interesting that he seems to have this team game down as well as the individual one now -- we're all thrilled," Monty said, causing an eruption of laughter. "Five points out of five can never be -- well, there's never a European ever achieved that feat in Ryder Cup play. So it proves how that type of feat is.

"So five out of five is always a fantastic feat, and as I said, this will be difficult enough to try and regain the Ryder Cup without Tiger Woods; never mind if he's back to his top form and winning five points out of five, it makes our job even tougher. So we have to counteract that by playing as well as we can against him and also the other 11 players on that team."

Monty appeared alongside American captaincy counterpart Corey Pavin, who personally watched some of the proceedings in San Francisco before heading to Wales. Last year, the American side won the Ryder in Kentucky despite not having Woods on the roster.

"I hate to say here in front of Corey and our American friends, but it makes it a better win if we can regain the Ryder Cup with Tiger Woods in it," Monty said.

Woods teamed with spectacular results with new running mate Steve Stricker at Harding and the pair went 4-0, taking turns carrying the burden for each other and rolling in acres worth of putts. Pavin was asked it if was a safe assumption they'd be paired again in Wales, and shockingly, indicated that it wasn't.

"I would say that's not safe to say, but you can say it if you like," Pavin said. "I have not made any pairings yet. You have to assume that Tiger and Steve will both make the team, as well.

"We'll see. It's a long time from now and obviously both are in tremendous form right now. They are playing fantastically; and you put any two players together that are playing well, they are going to be a tough team to beat."

SAN FRANCISCO -- Tiger Woods might have gone 5-0 for the first time in an international team event, and clinched the winning point to boot, but another player was the MVP of the Presidents Cup.

Don’t believe me?

Then ask Michael Jordan.

Woods finished undefeated for the first time in his cup career, but Phil Mickelson was 4-0-1 and teamed with a trio of players in the early pairings to lead the Americans to an 19.5-to-14.5 victory on Sunday.

Mickelson was paired with struggling Anthony Kim, who had an off year and was looking for his game when he arrived in the city by the bay. Then he paired with Justin Leonard, who had blown a match point Thursday by missing a 37-inch putt. Finally, he played two matches alongside team rookie Sean O'Hair, who had lost both of his matches before he paired with Lefty.

Mickelson, who might have played the best golf on the U.S. team from beginning to end, carried them all along regardless of their baggage.

"Phil Mickelson, if I had to say anything from my perspective, was able to take guys who had not really been successful on certain days and turned them into -- giving them confidence to help them rebound and get back to their game form," said Jordan, who served as a volunteer assistant with the team. "That, to me, symbolizes what a team is all about." 

 

 

SAN FRANCISCO -- Few thought it was possible, but Fred Couples, who who isn't exactly steering the ship with white knuckles and overly studious intent this week, has seemingly outfoxed his Presidents Cup counterpart, Greg Norman.

When it comes to Sunday singles play at team competitions, there usually are two schools of thought. Either stack the lineup with the hot players early in hopes of taking an early lead and building momentum for those players who follow, or backload the lineup so that the big boys deliver the points later on.

Norman, the International team captain, sent Camilo Villegas (0-3-0) and controversial captain's pick Adam Scott (1-3-0) in his first two groups. The last two Internationals off the tee are Retief Goosen (0-2-1) and Angel Cabrera (0-3-0).

Granted, Norman didn't have much to choose from with regard to hot hands since only Ernie Els (3-1-0) has amassed three full points, but if the lineup fails to make a dent in the U.S. team's 12.5 to 9.5 overnight lead, there will be some questions that need to be answered.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Hands down, the Americans have a grip on golf's alternate reality.

At the 2007 Presidents Cup matches in Montreal, the U.S. slaughtered the Internationals by a two-day score of 10 1/2 to 1/2 in the event's two alternate-shot sessions, a development that was as lopsided as it was surprising since the Americans have frequently sputtered in that format in the Ryder Cup.

Thursday at Harding Park Golf Course, the Yanks will attempt to continue the bloodletting in the week's first six alternate-shot matches, which in 2007 ended with the Americans having won 5.5 of the first 6 points of the four-day competition.

A look at the tee times and pairings, with some free sidespin thrown in:

3:10 p.m.
Mike Weir and Tim Clark (Intl) versus Anthony Kim and Phil Mickelson (USA)
This is the day's rabbit-and-hare pairing. The Yanks are a couple of reckless, gung-ho go-getters who don’t like to lay up and let it all hang out. Kim and Lefty were thrice paired at the Ryder Cup last year and were 1-1-1. Clark and Weir, tactical short hitters, are tough match-play foes. Clark knocked off Tiger Woods at the Accenture Match Play event this year and Weir bested Woods in singles at the 2007 Prez Cup.
 
3:22
Adam Scott and Ernie Els (Intl) versus Hunter Mahan and Sean O'Hair (USA)
Els was glad to pair off with the struggling Scott, the most controversial captain's pick in recent Prez Cup history. "He's had a very tough year and if I can help him get the little stumbling block he's had it will be great for his career," Els said. Mahan has played on the past two Presidents and Ryder teams and draws the lone cup rookie in O'Hair, who has quickly endeared himself to his mates by needling the heck out of them in the U.S. team room.

3:34
Vijay Singh and Robert Allenby (Intl) versus Lucas Glover and Stewart Cink (USA)
Singh suggested a few weeks back that Allenby use the claw putting grip and it helped turn his season around. They face a stiff test in the Southern-bred due of Cink and Glover, who each won their first major championship this year. They also use the same sports psychologist, Mo Pickens. Singh has played in all seven Prez Cups and Allenby has played in four, although neither has a winning overall record.
 
3:46
Camilo Villegas and Angel Cabrera (Intl) versus Kenny Perry and Zach Johnson (USA)
The International roster features players who speak four languages, but this pairing won’t have any issues communicating. Villegas is from Colombia and Cabrera is from Argentina, and in fact, if they speak in Espanol, Perry and Johnson won’t have a sniff as to what they are saying. Perry, at 49, is playing with a heavy heart after his mom died last week. Hard to guess how much he has left in the gas tank.

3:58
Geoff Ogilvy and Ryo Ishikawa (Intl) versus Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker (USA)
By far the most interesting pairing of the day, and not just because Woods and Ishikawa will draw a staggering throng of photographers. Ogilvy is one of the best practitioners of match play on the planet and Ishikawa has won four times this year in Japan, including last Sunday. Woods and Stricker each played scintillating golf in the FedEx Cup series, each winning once and fighting for the $10 million bonus. There could be some birdies in this foursome.

4:10
Retief Goosen and Y.E. Yang (Intl) versus Jim Furyk and Justin Leonard (USA)
Furyk and Leonard are cup warhorses, having played in a combined nine Prez Cup matches. Yang, like Villegas, is making his debut at a cup competition and hasn’t done much since winning the PGA Championship in August. This could be a key match for the Internationals since Furyk and Leonard are a combined 7-6-4 in alternate shot over the years and seem somewhat beatable.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Phil Mickelson is still flying solo.

After months away from the PGA Tour, where she ranked among the game's most recognizable figures outside the ropes, Amy Mickelson wasn't feeling up to attending the Presidents Cup opening ceremonies on Wednesday night, where husbands and wives are part of the proceedings.

Lefty had held out hope that Amy might be able to attend, since she was diagnosed with breast cancer in the spring and has made one public appearance since, and it wasn't at a men's event.

Mickelson, who will tee off in the first group in Thursday morning's alternate-shot format, said it remains uncertain whether she'll feel up to attending later in the week. He had mentioned last month that he hoped she could attend and mingle with the other players and wives at the team event, which, given the team environment, is quite a social get-together.

And nobody is more social than Amy.

Wednesday night, shortly before the opening ceremonies, Mickelson expressed doubt that she'd be able to make the trip. They live in San Diego.

"Possible, but unlikely," he said.

 

SAN FRANCISCO -- Tiger Woods didn’t exactly utter the phrase, "nevermind."

He didn’t need to. He put his head in his hands with a grin, and that gesture communicated the same sense with far more comedic air.

Working ahead on a story for Wednesday, I asked Woods about whether there were things he liked more about the Presidents Cup machinations versus the more established Ryder Cup, the team competition the Yanks play in alternate years.

Woods, who skipped the Ryder Cup last year with knee surgery, mentioned one rarely mentioned element that he prefers about this week's PrezCup affair.

"One other big distinct difference is that when we play foursomes, it's not the one-ball rule that's in effect at the Ryder Cup," Woods said. "We can play whatever ball we want on each and every hole. 

"So there's a lot more strategy involved in whose ball to hit off the tee, and changes of golf balls. Presidents Cup is different. There's a lot more changing golf balls and trying to figure out how you're going to play each hole. You can't just go out there and play one ball."

Seated a few feet to Woods' left, Jim Furyk kept a straight face for several seconds before he finally interjected some cup info of his own.
 
"I hate to let you keep going, but they actually changed it last year," Furyk said of the Ryder rule redux.

Woods ducked his head in faux shame.

"It happens," Woods laughed.

"It was a great answer, though," Furyk said.

"Appreciate that," Woods said.

 

ATLANTA -- It was anot her of those head-shaking, spikes-quaking lapses that have occasionally dogged the career of Phil Mickelson.

Somehow, on a hole at East Lake Golf Club with no water hazards, he imploded from close range for a quadruple bogey, ruining his opening round at the Tour Championship, the final leg of the FedEx Cup sweepstakes.

Mickelson, in 14th place in FedEx points entering the week, didn’t have much room for misfires and needed plenty of help from those ahead of him to win the $10 million bonus, but those hopes were greatly dashed in rapid succession on the 14th hole.

He hit his approach on the 446-yard hole into the greenside bunker, skulled his sand shot across then green, then pitched the ball too hard and back into the same trap. He left his next shot in the bunker, then blasted out and two-putted for a 3-over 73.

Toss out the snowman-8 and he's 1 under, which would have put him in a tie for sixth. Mickelson politely declined interview request afterward.

"One bad hole," Mickelson said. "You don’t need me today. I'm close to DFL."
 
Translated from tour speak, that's shorthand for Dead Freakin' Last. Actually, that distinction was left for playing partner Geoff Ogilvy, a two-time winner this year who shot 75 and skidded to 30th place.

ATLANTA -- It's about the last place on earth anybody would expect to see homicide cops, ambulances or a coroner's stretcher, but on Monday night, one of the most insular places in golf was the site of the most nightmarish crime of all.

A resident of the posh Isleworth Country Club enclave outside Orlando, home to Tiger Woods, several other PGA Tour players and a smattering of other prominent sports stars, was arrested after admitting to fatally shooting his wife in the head.

Suspect James Robert Ward has lived in the exclusive, gated community for two years, and said in his 911 call that he had shot his wife Diane in the master bedroom of their 8,800-square-foot mansion, which was formerly owned by Arnold Palmer and baseball pitcher Orel Hershiser, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

The police activity created quite a stir in the quiet, high-end community. Woods was home Tuesday during the aftermath.

"I wouldn’t exactly call it excitement," he said somberly on Wednesday, where he was preparing for the Tour Championship.

In his only other comment on the incident, Woods said he'd met Ward previously, but offered no other details.

Ward is a former developer who had fallen into financial distress, according to reports in the Orlando and Atlanta newspapers. He hadn’t paid his $16,800 monthly mortgage in over a year, his home is in foreclosure and is listed on the market for $5.2 million.

Ward, 61, lived between the first and 10th fairways at Isleworth, perhaps 1,000 yards from Woods' home. NBA stars Shaquille O'Neal, Vince Carter and Grant Hill, plus golfers Stuart Appleby, Paula Creamer, Charles Howell, J.B. Holmes and Nick O'Hern all reside at Isleworth.

A biographical sketch of Ward on his now-defunct company's Web site said he has been a "leader in residential real estate development and mortgage banking" for 30 years. He was ordered to be held without bail on Wednesday.

Howell, a longtime Isleworth member, said he had not met Ward. "Sad deal," he said in a text message.

LEMONT, Ill. -- Rory Sabbatini swallowed his considerable pride and took the high road.

Put in a similar situation, most of us might have made a vaguely obscene gesture, made the derisive raspberry noise, or just plain barked, "Take that, Greg Norman."
 
The South African veteran was passed over as a captain's pick for Presidents Cup team this week despite finishing one spot out of an automatic berth at No. 11 in points, despite winning a PGA Tour event three months ago, and despite getting bumped from an automatic slot on the team in the final qualifying event of the year. 

Worse, regardless of his credentials for serious consideration, International team captain Greg Norman never once contacted him to discuss his interest or to inform him that two other players had been picked instead.

Folks, this is the definition of snubbed.

"There was not a single conversation or a single phone call, period," Sabbatini said

Maybe Thursday was a case of getting even. Sabbatini shot a 5-under 66 to claim a share of the first-round lead with Steve Marino at the BMW Invitational. Too bad the rally is two days too late.

On Tuesday, Norman picked Japanese phenom Ryo Ishikawa, 17, and in what was considered a stunning surprise, Struggling Aussie Adam Scott, who has piled up missed cuts all season and has dropped 50 spots in the world rankings since mid-2008.

By any yardstick of fairness, Sabbatini surely deserved a phone call, if for no other reason than mere professional courtesy. After all, Sabbatini got bumped in the final qualifying event, the PGA Championship, by winner Y.E. Yang, who needed a victory to make the team and somehow delivered, knocking Sabbatini to the 11th slot.

He reiterated that Norman and assistant captain Frank Nobilo never spoke with him before, during or after the summer stretch run as the team and the captain's picks were finalized.

"Not a single conversation, single phone call, period, from anybody," he said.

Sabbatini, usually among the more loose-lipped players on tour, refused to criticize Norman for picking Scott, but was clearly miffed at how the selection process was handled.

"You could say I was a little disappointed," he said, tersely.

I will say it for him. He has every right to be.

 

 

 

 

LEMONT, Ill. -- After waffling at length about whether he would play this week at the third FedEx Cup event in Chicago, Phil Mickelson turned up at the BMW Championship on Wednesday, ready to roll.

Mickelson said his wife, Amy, is doing well enough in her breast-cancer battle that he plans to play the entire four-week stretch. He flew home after finishing his final round in Boston on Monday and had the last pro-am tee-time Wednesday at Cog Hill.

"We thought we'd just go ahead and finish it off," he said of the FedEx stretch.

Mickelson said he's leaning toward playing in the President Cup matches in four weeks, too, and that he's hoping Amy is well enough to attend the competition with him, at least briefly. So far, she hasn't made any public appearances since her cancer diagnosis in the spring.

"Most likely, I’ll play," he said. "And hopefully she will be able to come with me."

As a result of the situation at home, Mickelson has been jetting back and forth to his home outside San Diego, playing in fits and spurts, for months. Consequently, his schedule has largely been a week-to-week proposition.

Just last Saturday night, he sounded doubtful that he'd be playing in Chicago because he didn’t want to spend another week on the road away from his family and ailing wife, who is in the midst of treatment.

"She has good days and bad days," he said.