PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Shaun Micheel might have been in a celebratory mood after playing himself into a share of the U.S. Open lead in yesterday’s opening round.
But instead, Micheel talked himself into tears while speaking to reporters after shooting a 2-under-par 69 because he was thinking about his 63-year-old mother, Donna, who’s battling lung cancer that has spread to her brain, liver and spine.
“It’s hard to watch,” said Micheel, who said he speaks to her every day. “I don’t think she’ll be here much past August. I’m encouraged that she wants me out here, but there is a guilt factor. I’m trying to play for her.”
He did quite a job of it yesterday, taking just 22 putts, including the 30-foot bomb he drained for birdie on No. 18 that has him tied for the lead with Paul Casey and Brendon de Jonge entering today’s second round.
“You don’t expect those,” Micheel said. “I was just hoping to finish off with a nice par.”
Asked if he was as “surprised” to be atop the leaderboard as most everyone else is, he said, “I’m not. It’s amazing how quickly people forget you.”
Micheel, the 2003 PGA Championship winner, underwent shoulder surgery with Dr. James Andrews in 2007 and was out of action around the same time Woods was out with his knee surgery.
“My physical therapist asked me, ‘Why aren’t they mentioning you like they’re mentioning Tiger?’ ” Micheel said. “I had to explain to her how the hierarchy works.”
These days, though, all that matters to Micheel is making his mother’s last days as cheerful as possible.
“It’s tough. She’s been having a lot of bad days lately,” he said. “Last week [in his hometown of Memphis] I really tried to win for her and finished fourth. I think about her a lot. I’m really playing for her. I hate that she’s going through this.”