Mickelson looking for St. Jude breakthrough
McIlroy well rested for next week’s U.S. Open after resting sore ribs
It’s a tournament Phil Mickelson has come so close to winning so many times, only to agonizingly fall short.
Not the U.S. Open — that’s next week — but the St. Jude Classic in Memphis.
Mickelson definitely won’t claim that first U.S. Open victory this year because he’s already said he’s skipping it to attend his daughter’s high school graduation .
But he hopes to finally break through at TPC Southwind, where Mickelson has three top-three finishes in the last four years in Memphis with no titles.
“I don’t want to think about the results because when you start thinking results, you never perform your best,” Mickelson said Wednesday. “But I do know that if I play well, it’s a golf course I’ve played well on in the past. I like it very much, and I’ve been playing well this year. I just haven’t quite shot as low as I’d like to, and I feel like it’s close. I can’t think of a better place to put it all together than right here.”
The final tuneup before the U.S. Open next week in Wisconsin brought out a tough field, with Mickelson, Rickie Fowler and Brooks Koepka here along with Adam Scott, who is playing here for the first time in a decade, and Daniel Berger, who is defending his first and only PGA Tour title .
“It’s been awesome,” Berger said. “You get a lot of kind of great memories driving in, and it just like, didn’t feel like that long ago, and it was a year ago.”
Some things to watch during the final event before the U.S. Open:
Players can still make n it into the U.S. Open if they can crack the top 60 in the world golf rankings by the end of this tournament. That makes this a big week for Alameda’s James Hahn, who’s at No. 64, and No. 69 Tony Finau.
Rory McIlroy took n off more time than he expected after The Players Championship to rest his ailing ribs, but it appears he’ll be ready to go next week at the U.S. Open. McIlroy withdrew from the BMW PGA Championship and then the Memorial.
“I am ready for Erin Hills and looking forward to playing there for the first time,” McIlroy told The Guardian. “The last few weeks have obviously been frustrating — I never like to miss events either on the PGA Tour or European Tour — but it was important I got back to a level of fitness where I felt like I could give myself the best possible chance at the U.S. Open.
“As I have said many times before, majors will ultimately determine my golf career, but I have had the rest of this busy season to consider as well.”
McIlroy will have gone a month without competition.
Ryan Moore has withdrawn n from the U.S. Open with a shoulder injury that will keep him out for three to four weeks. Moore was replaced by Michael Putnam, the first alternate from a 36-hole qualifier in Columbus, Ohio, and the odd man out in a 4-for-3 playoff Tuesday morning.