Opinion & Analysis

Is this the U.S. Open for Mickelson?

Published

13 years ago

Jun 10, 2013

Phil Mickelson has made no secret of his desire to win the U.S. Open. But much to Lefty’s frustration, the tournament has yet to deliver anything but a bunch of missed opportunities.

Mickelson has won four majors, but none of them have been the U.S. Open — a tournament where he’s finished runner-up a baffling five times.

His failures have seen him criticize himself — “I’m such an idiot,” he said after making a double bogey on the 72nd hole at Winged Foot to lose the tournament by a shot — as well as the set up and difficulty of the tournament’s host courses.

However, after playing two practice rounds last week at Merion Golf Club’s East Course, the venue for this week’s U.S. Open, Mickelson called the course the best Open set up that he’d seen.

At 42 years old, maybe Phil is becoming a bit wiser about how he takes on a U.S. Open. Whether he likes a course or not, it can’t hurt for him to be positive about the places where he’ll try and make history. And if Mickelson genuinely does like the U.S. Open setup, it’s even more good news for him. He played well last weekend at the St. Jude Classic in Memphis, where he finished tied for second using a Callaway 3Deep 3 wood off most of the tees for extra control.

Despite the shorter, higher-lofted club, Mickelson still managed to finish tied for 11th in driving distance at 314.4 yards. In very non-Mickelson fashion, he also finished tied for 33rd in driving accuracy. The combined distance and accuracy of his 3 wood could be a huge advantage for him at Merion, where the tight fairways and long rough will take driver out of the equation for most players on all but a handful of holes.

The rest of Mickelson’s 2013 season has been solid as well, with four top-10s that included a wire-to-wire win at February’s Waste Management Phoenix Open where he shot a course-record 60 in Round 1 and finished with a 28-under total.

So will Merion provide Mickelson with his first U.S. Open victory? The 6,996-yard layout is shorter than previous U.S. Opens, which is often bad for long hitters like Mickelson. But Merion’s lack of length could actually be a good thing for Lefty, at least according to the stats.

He’s ranked first in birdie average on Tour, first in birdies on par 3s and first in birdie or better conversions. Maybe more important is that Mickelson is is putting well, ranking eighth in the PGA Tour’s strokes-gained putting stat.

It all boils down to this — if Mickelson can stay clear of the the rough and find a hot putter, then there’s no reason he can’t collect his first U.S. Open trophy this week.

Related Topics:Callaway

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Troy Vayanos

Troy Vayanos was born and still resides in Brisbane, Australia. He has been a passionate golfer for more than 25 years and loves learning and increasing his knowledge of the golf swing. He lives and breathes golf from his local golf course to the professional tours around the world. His website Hitting It Solid delivers the latest golf instruction that helps you break 100 and beyond. You’ll also learn the 7 critical steps you must know to play better golf today.

11 Comments

Troy Vayanos

Jun 13, 2013 at 2:58 pm

Yes Uhgolfguy1, Phil has made a solid start in this year’s event. Long way to go yet but at least he’s heading in the right direction.

I think the Titleist 5 wood is going to get a good workout at Merion.

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uhgolfguy1

Jun 13, 2013 at 1:40 pm

Phil is rocking a Titleist 980f (5 wood?) in round 1

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Troy Vayanos

Jun 12, 2013 at 3:12 pm

True Daniel,

I think though with the 2013 US Open more so than many others the length of the course is a big issue. It’s much shorter than traditional venues which is why it’s become very topical.

Normally US Opens are hosted at much longer courses and it not only requires accuracy but length of the tee as well. Merion is a very different set up than normal.

Cheers

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Daniel

Jun 12, 2013 at 2:52 pm

“If he can find the fairways and get hot with the putter, he’s got a great chance.”

I’ve just read that line in about 4 different articles about this tournament. Don’t you think that applies to about about half the field in any US Open. I’m not trying to knock this writer in particular, but that quote is the biggest cliche every year at the US Open

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Troy Vayanos

Jun 10, 2013 at 11:17 pm

Very true Cody,

I’m expecting him to hit irons or hybrids off most of the tees. If he does this and finds the fairways he has a real shot at it.

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cody

Jun 10, 2013 at 7:06 pm

Phil is a guy that can go low or blow up. I am looking for him to play well. It is that one or two terrible holes a round that kill him.

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BigVinny

Jun 10, 2013 at 5:50 pm

if he leaves the driver out of the bag, maybe.
his swing under pressure doesn’t hold up, no different to Norman.

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Troy Vayanos

Jun 10, 2013 at 4:44 pm

I agree Ben, hopefully using the shorter clubs off the tee will help improve his accuracy. If he does this, look out!

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Ben

Jun 10, 2013 at 3:28 pm

He HAS to hit the fairways. Plain and simple.

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Troy Vayanos

Jun 10, 2013 at 2:59 pm

Yes it doesn’t surprise me James, he’s long enough off the tee to hit irons. Whatever it takes to find the fairway in a US Open is a must.

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James

Jun 10, 2013 at 2:55 pm

Also noticed Phil actually using irons off of some of the tees in Memphis too.

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Opinion & Analysis

AVL: My U.S. Amateur local qualifying experience

Published

5 days ago

Jun 5, 2026

Andrew Von Lossow

This past Monday, I played in the U.S. Amateur local qualifier at Rock Creek Country Club in Portland, Oregon. A full tee sheet from 7:30 a.m. to 1:55 p.m., the top 11 scores would make it to the U.S. Amateur final qualifying.

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Getting to the highlight of the round on the par five 17th, a drive up the left side and 212 yards left to the front hole location. I took out a 5-iron with plans of middle of the green. The ball ended up 8 feet left of the hole, pin high. A slight downhill putt dropped in for an eagle 3 on the 17th. With the cut line looking to be anywhere from -2 to even par. This was the boost I had been waiting for all day.

With making par from the trees on 18, it was time to wait for a potential playoff with a posted score of one under par 71.

Three hours later, it was playoff time. 8 players for 6 spots. I made par on the playoff hole, which was good enough to advance to the U.S. Amateur final qualifying in July. USGA qualifiers sure deliver on all of the emotions in golf!

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