For a record 6th time in his illustrious career, Phil Mickelson is the runner-up at the U.S. Open, and while he certainly knows what it feels like to come up just short in one of the biggest golf tournaments in the world, this one stung a little bit more.
Phil woke up on Sunday with everything going for him. In addition to having a one shot lead heading into the final round, it was also his birthday and more obviously Father’s Day. Had Phil won it would have capped off one of the most memorable storybook majors we’ve seen in recent history.
Instead, Phil struggled with his putter all day and came to hole No. 18 needing to make birdie. After a poor drive, he hit his approach shot just short of the green and then like every single other golfer that played the hole over the weekend, failed to make birdie (and force a playoff).
In his post-round interview Phil was clearly emotional. Though candid and polite, the tears were rather apparent when he was asked how he came up short for the 6th time.
“For me, it’s very heartbreaking,” Mickelson said, “This week was my best opportunity, I felt, heading into the final round, the way I was playing and the position I was in.”
While we certainly all feel for Phil, who’s quite possibly the most genuine guy on the PGA Tour, his failure to take home the hardware once again begs the question; will he ever win a US Open?
At 43 years of age he’s still a top player in the game but his time certainly is running out, and with more and more young players coming into the pro ranks, the competition is tougher than ever.
If Phil does want to add the US Open to his hall-of-fame resume, he’s going to need to do it sooner rather than later and as much as we all like to watch his up and down roller coaster of a golf game on Sundays at majors, this year at Merion was hard to watch.