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SPORTS Saturday 8 June 2019
Pebble gives Mickelson last, best chance at elusive US Open

By EDDIE PELLS lar his grandfather kept in
AP National Writer his pocket to remind him
There was the hospitality that he wasn't poor.
tent at Winged Foot. Mickelson made his pro de-
There was Payne and the but in the 1992 U.S. Open
pager at Pinehurst. at Pebble Beach, where
There was a near-miss at he opened with a 68 and
Merion. was two out of the lead,
To list all of Phil Mickelson's but shot 81 on Friday to miss
close calls, meltdowns and the cut. After his fifth victory
shortfalls at the U.S. Open is there in February, a win that
to peer into a particularly marked No. 44 for his ca-
tortured chapter of the his- reer, Mickelson was asked
tory of one of golf's great- about his history, and his fu-
est champions. ture, at the course.
More uplifting are the sto- "I really don't think there's
ries from Mickelson's five any carry-over from here to
tour victories at Pebble the U.S. Open. It's a totally
Beach — including one different golf course," he
earlier this year. said, a nod to the dry-and-
It's what makes Mickelson's crispy conditions in June,
trip next week to Pebble to say nothing of what the
all that much more tan- USGA usually does to its U.S.
talizing. It's his chance to Open layouts. "I just really
finally win the tournament enjoy this place. I seem to
he's wanted so badly — play some of my best golf
maybe too badly — at a here and that's probably
course teeming with history about it."
and good vibes for not only And so, the questions re-
himself, but for his family main: Can he play his best
and for the game itself. It's golf there once again?
a week during which the And if so, will it be enough
five-time major winner, who In this Feb. 11, 2019, file photo, Phil Mickelson poses with his trophy on the 18th green of the Pebble to win a championship that
Beach Golf Links after winning the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf tournament in Pebble Beach,
turns 49 on the day of the Calif. has cruelly uncovered ev-
final round, will come face Associated Press ery flaw in his game, and
to face with what could be turned him into Patient No.
his last, best chance to win sweeping debacle at Shin- has paid off as often as not. came in 2013 at Merion. He 1 on the day after Father's
the U.S. Open. necock last June, where he The ball hit a tree and bare- carried the outright lead Day for every armchair psy-
And become the sixth play- finished 48th, was a culmi- ly went 25 yards. Mickelson into the final day for the first chologist or Monday morn-
er to complete the career nation of a quarter-centu- made double bogey and time, but played the last six ing quarterback who ever
Grand Slam. ry's worth of frustration from lost by one. holes in 3 over in an even- put a tee in the ground?
"No," Mickelson said when a player fed up with the "I still am in shock that I did tual loss to Justin Rose. If he does win it, will it
asked if he felt pressure to vagaries of the USGA's pe- that. I just can't believe that He has three Masters titles, change Mickelson's place
capture the final leg of the rennial course-setup con- I did that," Mickelson said one British Open, one PGA in golf history? He's already
slam in order to enhance troversies, to say nothing of afterward. "I am such an Championship and nothing in good company, one of
his legacy. "It's just that it the long, star-crossed histo- idiot." to show from the U.S. Open 12 players, including Arnold
would be pretty special to ry he has written for himself There were close calls but a silver medal — a re- Palmer, Lee Trevino, Tom
be part of the elite play- in the major he has valued both before and after that cord six of them. Watson and Byron Nelson,
ers that have won all four. the most. blow-up, starting in 1999 Nobody with access to a to win three of the four legs
To me, that's the sign of a But if there was a single at Pinehurst, when Mickel- calendar will miss the irony of the modern slam. (Sam
complete game." 20-minute stretch that de- son brought a pager with in that next year, on the Snead is the only other
It's hard to argue Mickelson fines Mickelson at the U.S. him in case his expect- same week Mickelson turns whose missing title is the
hasn't proven he has the Open, it would be the ing wife, Amy, went into 50 and becomes eligible U.S. Open).
game to win a U.S. Open. 18th hole at Winged Foot labor with the couple's for the senior tour, the U.S. But there's a chance Mick-
He has played in 25 of them in 2006. He carried a one- first child, Amanda. She Open will return to Winged elson could find himself in
as a professional, finished shot lead into final hole. His didn't. Mickelson played Foot. even better company — as
in the top 10 in 10, and driver — Mickelson hit only all four rounds. His loss to But first ... Pebble Beach. in, the company of the ca-
finished runner-up in six of two fairways the final round Payne Stewart after Stew- Nobody has won more tro- reer Grand Slam winners:
those. And yet, the defining — bounced off a hospital- art made and Mickelson phies at the tournament Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan,
trait of America's national ity tent, well left of the fair- missed clutch putts on the known in its formative years Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus
championship is that it de- way and behind a phalanx final three holes didn't feel simply as the Bing Crosby and Tiger Woods.
livers the ultimate examina- of trees that blocked his all that devastating at the Clambake. And if Mickel- At least one more good
tion of every part of a play- path to the green. Instead time. Though the loss kept son feels at home on the chance. "No matter what,
er's game. That includes of punching out, trying to him without a major title, shores of the Monterey he's going to be one of the
the mental and emotional save par for the win or bo- he was 29: Mickelson was Peninsula, it makes sense. greatest players that's ever
approach — and, it follows gey for a playoff, he went on the verge of becoming His mother's father, Al San- played this game," Woods
that a big piece of that for it. He dismissed the odds a father. Father Time was tos, grew up in the area, said. "How he's viewed and
puzzle is the ability to stay and chose against making only a faint apparition. and even had a caddy- whether he wins the career
cool and make good de- what looked like the "smart" Mickelson's most recent ing gig at Pebble when it Grand Slam or not, I still
cisions when the lights are play, much the way he has second-place finish — in opened 100 years ago, in think he's one of the best
the brightest. throughout a career of all- fact, his last showing in the 1919. Mickelson marks his players to ever pick up a
To many, Mickelson's putt- or-nothing risk taking that top 25 at the U.S. Open — ball with the 1900 silver dol- golf club."q