Phil Mickelson: U.S. Open Optimism Grows

Phil Mickelson, fresh off a disappointing missed cut at the U.S. Open earlier this month, did not speak to the media that Friday at Oakmont and instead made his way to the parking lot, thanked a few security guards and left the property.

As his final exempt invite that came with winning the 2021 PGA Championship, it might have been his last time in golf’s national championship, and he indicated as such in the lead-up to the event.

But turns out Mickelson may not be ready to throw in the towel just yet.

“I said it’s very possibly my last, and I think that’s real,” Mickelson said Thursday at Life golf dallasthe first time he’s spoken to the press since his missed cut at Oakmont. “However, I also feel like I’m starting to play some good golf. This year has been my best year on LIV. I’ve had three top-six finishes and some opportunities to win. If I play like that in some upcoming major championships, that could ultimately qualify me into another U.S. Open.”

Mickelson shot back-to-back rounds of four-over 74 at the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club. Finishing up on a rainy Friday, he seemed destined for the weekend until he played his final four holes in four over. He made doubles on 15 and 17, and on 18 he just missed a birdie try that would have allowed him to make the cut on the number.

The Oakmont missed cut meant he failed to qualify for the weekend at all three majors so far this season. It was also his fourth straight missed cut in a U.S. Open, the tournament that’s long eluded the six-time major champion. He’s famously finished as the runner-up in six U.S. Opens: in 1999, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2009 and 2013.

“I don’t want to say it’s my last,” he said Thursday. “I actually think I’m playing well enough that if I can play at the level I’ve played at out here in majors again, I’ll finish high enough to get into a U.S. Open via that qualifying avenue. So I don’t want to say that it is my last because I think I’m going to contend. I’m in the other three majors for a lot of years, and it could very well get me into the U.S. Open again.”

Mickelson, 55, still has options for future Opens. While winning another major or getting his World Ranking high enough provides auto invites, those might be unlikely pathways (LIV still doesn’t receive World Ranking points). There is also the newly created exemption for a top LIV player not already qualified. He could also advance through final qualifying. Or he could hope to get a special exemption from the USGA, which he received in 2021 but ended up not needing after he won the PGA at Kiawah Island.

The 2026 U.S. Open is at Shinnecock Hills on Long Island; the last time the Open was played there, in 2018, Mickelson was penalized two strokes when he hit a moving ball (several times) on the 13th green during Saturday’s second round.

“My anger and frustration got the best of me last weekend,” he texted a few reporters in the aftermath. “I’m embarrassed and disappointed by my actions. It was clearly not my finest moment and I’m sorry.”

At the U.S. Open, John Bodenhamer, the USGA’s chief championships officer, was asked if the USGA would consider giving Mickelson a future exemption.

“We would review things for Shinnecock ahead of next year and look at all of those possibilities and evaluate it from there,” he said. “I think the way that we would also think of Phil is we hope he earns his way in, and I think he’d tell you the same thing. That’s what he did last time. We gave him one and then he went out and won the PGA Championship. So wouldn’t put it past him.”

Mickelson has played in 34 U.S. Opens, tied with Hale Irwin for the second most. Jack Nicklaus played in 44.

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