Bring handkerchiefs. Stock up on Kleenex. Supplies of tissues to wipe away tears, to blow noses or dab at tearful eyes may be in short supply out on Long Island.

All major championships have their rhymes and their reasons. One player's come back is another player's downfall. One player's success is everyone else's failure.

This US Open will be notable for the noise of the New York fans. As many as 50,000 each day don't cheer, they roar. It will also be notable for being held on a public golf course in one of New York's state parks.

This US Open will determine whether Tiger Woods can become only the second man to win two US Opens at the same site. This is a rare distinction even in a sport of rare distinctions. Willie Anderson won at the wonderfully named Myopia Hunt Club outside Boston in 1901 and again in 1905.

Or might the 109th Open be remembered as the Tearful Open, the one Phil Mickelson played in having just heard that Amy, his wife, had breast cancer?

The memory bank rewinds to the 1st tee on the opening day of the 2006 Ryder Cup near Dublin, Ireland, and the arrival of Darren Clarke to play with Lee Westwood against Mickelson and Chris DiMarco. It is a few months after Clarke's wife Heather has died of cancer. The noise that greets the burly Irishman sends tremors throughout Ireland. Mickelson hears them. He sees the looks on the faces of the few thousand who were seated around the 1st tee. He knows a little bit of what Clarke is going through.

Now imagine what would happen if Mickelson were to stand on the 18th tee here at Bethpage on Sunday evening with a one-stroke lead and birdie the 72nd hole for victory. At home, Amy Mickelson is watching on television with their three children. She will probably be tearful and so will her children. The throaty New Yorkers will roar not cheer.

All those spectators and players and officials who had been at Fort Worth, Texas, a few weeks earlier when pink was the colour of the tournament in honour of Amy Mickelson will be dabbing at their eyes.

Phil has won the US Open. Amy is going to be treated successfully. Her cancer will fade into remission. There will be tears. Will there be enough tissues? Will it happen?