PARIS: Easygoing Mickelson finally has mindset for first U.S. Open title


PEBBLE BEACH -- Phil Mickelson's text message was as stunning as it was telling: "This is worse than Winged Foot!"

No one could ever question Mickelson's devotion to the Chargers after that missive. Mickelson was watching the Chargers' January playoff crash against the Jets and texting a New York sportswriter faster than Nate Kaeding could miss field goals.

But really, worse than the 2006 U.S.Open at Winged Foot? Yikes!

Mickelson arrives at the 110th U.S. Open with the same unfulfilled goal as his favorite football team: winning a national championship.

While the Chargers' quest to prevail as the NFL kings hit a rough patch -- anyone seen disgruntled Vincent Jackson and Marcus McNeill? -- Mickelson isn't wasting this opportunity at the Pebble Beach Golf Links.

"It would mean a lot to any player, myself included, given that I've come close so many times," Mickelson said Wednesday, one day before the U.S. Open's first round.

None of Mickelson's near-misses was more painful than his wobbly Winged Foot drive at No. 18, leading by a stroke on the event's last hole. The Rancho Santa Fe resident went off the ranch with an effort that ricocheted off a hospitality tent. He double-bogeyed, delivering the tournament to Geoff Ogilvy.

Years later, Winged Foot became another way to explain the frustrations that come with cheering for the Chargers.

If Mickelson can joke about Winged Foot, why should others tiptoe around the U.S. Open heartaches that blemish his stellar resume.

If that bugs you, so be it.

If it bugs Mickelson, he's not letting on.

"You could say that about any player about some tournament,'' Mickelson said. "(Jack) Nicklaus never won in Canada. I mean, come on.

"We could talk about Arnold (Palmer) not winning a PGA; I'd rather talk about the four Masters he won, or the win he had at Cherry Hills or what he did at Birkdale."

Mickelson, No. 2 at last year's U.S. Open at Bethpage Black, prefers chugging from that mug of optimism, the one that lands him on the street's sunny side.

"Sure, the pessimist is going to look at all the things he hasn't done or I haven't done or anything else,'' said Mickelson, who claimed his third Masters title in April. "But I don't choose to look at my career, or anybody else's, that way.''

Given Mickelson's swashbuckling approach and mindset, envisioning him contending at any U.S. Open seems a stretch. His go-for-broke, slice-it-around-concession-stand, squeeze-it-in-there manner isn't a match for the white-knuckle U.S. Open courses, which demand perfection.

But along the way, Mickelson learned when to rip it and when to snip it.

He discovered that laying up can be smart, even as the golf brains point to zero U.S. Open titles instead of noting his record five runner-up showings in 11 years.

In the long run, Mickelson's short game has been his huge Open asset.

"I think that in the Open the biggest thing when you approach a hole is where can you make par from, what's your best opportunity to make par?'' Mickelson said. "I think the penalty for a miss-hit in the U.S. Open is so severe, I think the challenge of the short game and getting up and down is so difficult that it may -- it gives me an opportunity over the course of 72 holes to keep myself in contention."


