Phil Mickelson will skip U.S. Open to attend daughter's graduation

Phil Mickelson is choosing pomp and circumstance over playing the golf tournament he wants to win more than all others.

Mickelson said after Saturday's third round of the Memorial that he expects to withdraw from the U.S. Open in two weeks to attend his daughter's high school graduation.

RELATED: First and second round Tee times, pairings for US Open

Mickelson's daughter, Amanda, is giving the graduation commencement speech in California the morning of the first round of the Open, which is being played June 15-18 at Erin Hills in Wisconsin.

"There is no way for me to make (the U.S. Open) no matter what the tee time is," said Mickelson, a six-time runner-up in the Open. "There is no sense in (withdrawing) now, maybe something comes up with the commencement, but it doesn't look good. But I am really excited about this moment in our family's life."

Major dad-points.

Phil Mickelson will miss the US Open later this month to attend daughter Amanda's graduationhttps://t.co/ty0MNSMu0t pic.twitter.com/jgHI63q0I0

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) June 3, 2017

Amanda was born the day after the 1999 U.S. Open, which her father lost by a stroke to Payne Stewart.

"I can't believe how quickly time has gone by," Mickelson said. "Here she is turning 18 and moving on to college. I'm so proud of her."

This article is written by Bill Rabinowitz and Rob Oller and Tom Reed from The Columbus Dispatch and was legally licensed via the Tribune Content Agency through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.