Phil Mickelson: ‘Likelihood’ this will be final US Open
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Phil Mickelson of HyFlyers GC tees off at the 12th tee on day one of LIV Golf Virginia at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club on June 6.
PHOTO: AFP
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LOS ANGELES – Not wanting to close all doors, six-time US Open runner-up Phil Mickelson admitted that next week probably will be his last chance at winning the event that has brought him so much heartache.
The 54-year-old has won six Major golf championships, including the Masters three times, and showed in 2021 that he does have the ability to pull off surprises.
He won the PGA Championship at age 50 that came with the added perk of a five-year US Open exemption.
That exemption package expires this year when the US Open arrives next week at Oakmont Country Club, just outside Pittsburgh.
So is this the last chance to earn the elusive trophy that just slipped from his grasp in runner-up finishes in 1999, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2009 and 2013? Will he get another chance to complete a career Grand Slam?
“I haven’t thought about it too much,” Mickelson said before this weekend’s LIV Golf event in Virginia. “There’s a high likelihood that it will be, but I haven’t really thought about it too much.”
There are ways he can find his way into the US Open field beyond this year. For starters, he can go through the gruelling qualifying process. And the United States Golf Association always can grant him an exemption like it did in 2021.
He also can get there by leading LIV’s player standings at the end of the current year. He went into the Virginia event in 15th place.
Mostly, though, Mickelson says he has not thought about his US Open future. Or he has and he does not care to reveal his thinking just yet. He even says he is undecided about his LIV career.
“As far as my playing schedule, I don’t know the answer to that,” he said. “I don’t have a great answer for you. I’m also going to be 55 in a couple weeks, so I want to be realistic there, too.”
While Mickelson says he is not sure if he is willing to go through the qualifying process for future US Opens, he is far more clear on his expectations in order to continue his LIV playing days.
He is captain of the LIV team HyFlyers and holds the position in high regard.
“I want this team to succeed. I don’t want to hold it back,” he said.
“If I’m not an asset, if I’m not helping, if I’m holding it back, then it’s time for me to move on and get somebody else in here who is going to really help the team win and succeed.”
Meanwhile in PGA Tour action this week, Cameron Champ, making the most of his last-gasp entry as an alternate, seized the lead at the Canadian Open on June 6 as Rory McIlroy crashed out of his final US Open tune-up.
Champ fired four birdies in a four-under 66 to seize a two-stroke lead at TPC Toronto Osprey Valley, where world No. 2 McIlroy posted an eight-over 78 to miss the cut by a wide margin.
“Of course it concerns me,” the Northern Irishman said.
“You don’t want to shoot high scores like the one I did today. I came here obviously with a new driver thinking that that sort of was going to be good and solve some of the problems off the tee, but it didn’t.” REUTERS, AFP
