Discomforts of home
Mickelson’s Open quest returns him to familiar, if difficult, course
SAN DIEGO — In mid-may, Phil Mickelson accepted a special exemption from the United States Golf Association with reason to believe this might be his last shot to finally win a U.S. Open.
Now he gets five more years, courtesy of his stunning victory last month at the PGA Championship that made him the oldest winner in 161 years of the majors.
The clock, though, is still ticking.
Mickelson turns 51 on Wednesday, and is leaving nothing to chance in his quest for his first U.S. Open title. He took a few days to celebrate his sixth major title, and then it was time to get to work.
“It’s a unique opportunity,” Mickelson said Monday. “I had a chance to prepare properly, and I wanted to put in the right work. So I’ve kind of shut off all the noise. I’ve shut off my phone. I’ve shut off a lot stuff to where I can focus in on this week and really give it my best chance to play my best.”
If his victory in the PGA at Kiawah Island was a surprise, this would be sheer fantasy.
Mickelson holds the wrong kind of U.S. Open record with his six runner-up finishes, most recently in 2013 at “It’s a unique opportunity. I had a chance to prepare properly, and I wanted to put in the right work. So I’ve kind of shut off all the noise. I’ve shut off my phone. I’ve shut off a lot stuff to where I can focus in on this week and really give it my best chance to play my best.”
Phil Mickelson
Phil Mickelson usually plays on tour the week before a major championship, but he has spent the past two weeks preparing for the U.S. Open.
Merion, and it stands out even more considering it is the only major keeping him from joining the most elite group in golf with a career Grand Slam.
He is a three-time winner of the PGA Tour event at Torrey Pines, though to call it a home-field advantage is misleading. It has been 20 years since Mickelson last hoisted a trophy at Torrey Pines, right before Rees Jones — known as the “Open Doctor” — overhauled the South Course with hopes the municipal course could host an Open.
Since then, Mickelson has missed the cut at Torrey as often as he finished in the top 10 — five each — and rarely has contended.
How much of that was the redesign? How much was attitude? Hard to tell. Mickelson has never lacked for enthusiasm though even he has questioned his effort at Torrey.
He grew up in San Diego and still lives here, but Torrey Pines wasn't his primary course as a junior and he never comes to Torrey except for the week of the PGA Tour event in January. That changed last week. Mickelson typically likes to play the week before a major. This time, he took two weeks off for a crash course.
“I put a lot of time in on the greens, because even though they're not at tournament speed, I needed to relearn and see the breaks and know what the ball does on these greens,” Mickelson said. “Granted, I've played here a bunch since the redo, but I really haven't spent a lot of time to learn the nuances. And I did that last week.”
He spent Monday playing 18 holes with the defending Open champion, Bryson Dechambeau, and teenager
Akshay Bhatia. Mickelson placed cupsized placards on four quadrants of the green and putted from different angles.
The rest of the day felt casual in warm weather and a mixture of blue sky and marine layer. This is not the same Torrey Pines the players face in January. The fairways are faster, and the kikuyu rough is prevalent and punishing.
There wasn't a lot of stress. There figures to be plenty beginning Thursday, and that's what Mickelson is trying to avoid. Few other players over the years have delivered so much creativity and excitement with shots only they can imagine.
Mickelson is trying to keep this simple. He put in the work. He has a plan.
“There's a proper way to play here to each pin, and I have tried to do too much in the past,” he said.