• July 12, 1999
• Vol. 52
• No. 1

Putt Daddy

Phil Mickelson Lost the U.s. Open but Won An Even Better Title—father

Tiny Amanda Brynn Mickelson obviously knows how to create a buzz. Her impending arrival into the world was the talk of the four-day U.S. Open in Pinehurst, N.C., nearly overshadowing a closely fought battle between her dad-to-be, golfer Phil Mickelson, and front-runner Payne Stewart. Mickelson, 29, had vowed to leave the tournament the moment his wife, Amy, went into labor. "The birth of my daughter," says Mickelson, "was not something I was going to miss."

For a while it looked as if he might miss both the tournament and the birth. On the night of June 19, Amy, 27, was rushed to the hospital in Scottsdale, Ariz. But her contractions ceased, and she was sent home under doctor's orders to return to the nonstop bed rest that had begun in March. "My instructions from the doctor were, 'If you need a break from lying on your bed, go lie on the couch, and if you need a break from lying on the couch, go lie on the bed,' " she says.

The following day, the final round of the 72-hole tournament, things got more than a little tense. On the last hole, Mickelson was only one stroke behind Stewart, and Stewart faced a difficult 15-foot putt. If he missed it, the tournament would go into a playoff round the next day—that is, if Mickelson were available to play.

However, Stewart sank it, ending one drama but starting another. Mickelson boarded his leased Hawker 700 for the almost 2,000-mile trip home. The next morning—just about when that playoff would have begun—Amy's water broke. About nine hours later the 7-lb. 4-oz. brunette arrived—with her father there as witness. "There's going to be a U.S. Open every year," says Mickelson. "The birth of my child was an experience that I will cherish for the rest of my life."