While he has very much divided opinion over the last few years in particular, Phil Mickelson will almost certainly be remembered as one of the greatest golfers of all-time.
Phil Mickelson‘s longevity arguably does not get spoken about enough. Lefty won his first PGA Tour title in 1991 while still an amateur, while his sixth major title came more than 30 years later. He has made more Ryder Cup appearances than anyone else, while no-one has won more points in the Presidents Cup.
He damaged his reputation with the way his move to LIV Golf was handled. But there is no question that few players have excited the galleries over the last three decades in the same way Mickelson has done.
And he most definitely had the game to become the sixth player to win the career grand slam. Mickelson has been a US Open win away from achieving that since 2013. Remarkably, that event has seen the 54-year-old finish second on six occasions – while he has finished second six times in the other three majors combined.
How Phil Mickelson reacted to blowing the 2006 US Open on the final hole
And nowhere did Mickelson have a better opportunity to win that US Open than in 2006 at Winged Foot. Ultimately, he simply needed a par on the 72nd hole to win. Unfortunately, what followed prompted Mickelson to label himself ‘an idiot’.
Mickelson hit a wayward drive which actually hit the hospitality tent and left him blocked out. Eventually, he would leave himself with an awful lie in a green-side bunker in three and needing an up and down to make a play-off with Geoff Ogilvy.
Neither his bunker shot or his chip after failing to hold the green went in, giving Ogilvy his only major title. Mickelson meanwhile, did not hold back in his criticism of himself after his round.
“Well, I still am in shock that I did that. I just can’t believe that I did that. I am such an idiot. I just couldn’t hit a fairway all day. I just couldn’t hit a fairway all day,” he said.
“I tried to go to my bread and butter shot, a baby carve slice on 18 and just get it in the fairway, and I missed it left. It was still okay, wasn’t too bad. I just can’t believe I couldn’t par the last hole. It really stings.
“As a kid I dreamt of winning this tournament. I came out here and worked hard all four days, haven’t made a bogey all week and then bogeyed the last hole. Even a bogey would have gotten me into a playoff. I just can’t believe I did that.”
Mickelson’s career record in the US Open
Incredibly, Mickelson was halfway to matching the Tiger Slam when the golfing world travelled to Winged Foot, having won the PGA Championship in 2005 and the Masters in 2006. He led going into the final round, and was back in front from the 14th hole all the way to the final tee on Sunday.
Mickelson would finish second again in 2009 and 2013. But that would prove to be his final top 10 in the event, with the LIV Golf star missing the cut in four of the last five years.
His 2021 PGA Championship win suggests that it would be naive to write Mickelson off completely. However, it does appear that 2006 is indeed going to represent the closest he will ever get to winning the US Open.
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