Having faced such possibilities as losing his wife Amy to breast cancer, Phil Mickelson found that losing another US Open golf title no longer carries the sting it once did.

Mickelson suffered an unprecedented fifth US Open runner-up finish on Monday at Bethpage Black, taking a bogey on the 71st hole to fire a final-round par 70 and settle for a share of second on 278, two behind shock winner Lucas Glover.

"Certainly I'm disappointed, but now that it's over I've got more important things going on and, oh well," Mickelson said. "Maybe it's more in persepctive for me because I feel different this time."

Mickelson took a break from the US PGA Tour last month when his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer, but received good news that the cancer was detected early and so treatment was put off until next week.

The 39-year-old left-hander returned last week in Memphis for a tuneup event and made another bid for the title that has eluded him for so long, but will now take an indefinite leave to be with his family.

"Kind of an emotional five days. A lot of ups and down," Mickelson said. "Now that we are going to get started in about 10 days, I think once we get going it might be a little bit easier. The wait has been difficult.

"I don't know where to go with that, just that there are some more important things going on."

Mickelson previously settled for second in 1999 at Pinehurst, in 2002 at Bethpage, in 2004 at nearby Shinnecock and in 2006 at nearby Winged Foot.

The three-time major champion's next chance for a US Open breakthrough comes next year at Pebble Beach.

"I want to win this tournament badly. I play well in this event. I enjoy this event," Mickelson said. "I think the way the courses have been set up the last couple of years, I will have more and more chances."

Mickelson, who probably will not play in next month's British Open at Turnberry, rushed from the course after the extra-day finish caused by heavy weekend rain to start a tropical vacation with his wife.

"It's not that I need a vacation. It's just we're not going to have a chance in the next couple of months to have a lot of family time," Mickelson said. "So yeah, as a family, we need it."

An eagle at the par-5 13th pulled Mickelson level with Glover for the lead but bogeys at 15 and 17 and a Glover birdie at 16 saw him come up short once again despite fans cheering and chanting his name all across the course.

"That eagle put me right in position," Mickelson said. "I thought I needed to most likely play under par to have won. As it turned out, that's what I needed to do."

AFP

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