Phil Mickelson: A history of close calls at the U.S. Open

Phil Mickelson continues his search of the U.S. Open title, after a career of close calls and near misses.

Phil Mickelson is one of the greatest golfers of all time. His résumé speaks for itself: a four-time All-American and three-time National Champion at Arizona State University. In 1991, while still enrolled at ASU, Mickelson won the PGA TOUR’s Northern Telecom Open. Just the sixth amateur ever to win on the TOUR, Mickelson has since recorded 50 more victories worldwide, including five major championships.

For nearly three decades, there’s been little in golf that Phil Mickelson couldn’t do. Except, that is, win the U.S. Open. By all reasonable standards, he’s been as successful there as he could be without holding the national championship.

Twice the low amateur, in 1990 and 1991, Mickelson has ten top-ten finishes as a professional in golf’s toughest test. In those ten, of course, lies the record Mickelson would like so much to forget. Six times, two more than any player in the tournament’s history, Phil has finished the U.S. Open as the runner-up.

It’s the only major he hasn’t won, and the one he spends an entire year building toward. As the calendar turns to June, and Mickelson’s quest continues, we’re taking a look at the tournaments that have built Phil’s legend at the U.S. Open – for better and worse.