The three-time PGA Championship venue which Phil Mickelson said is the ‘hardest golf course’ he’s ever played

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Phil Mickelson believes one of the United States’ traditional venues is the hardest course he’s ever had to play.

Numerous iconic courses throughout the USA could be considered golf’s toughest test: Winged Foot, Pinehurst, Kiawah Island, Bethpage Black, Shinnecock Hills, and Merion, to name a few.

What’s more, Tiger Woods claimed Whistling Straights was the most demanding course he’s ever faced during the 2004 PGA Championship.

However, there’s one prestigious major championship venue which has yet to be mentioned.

What Phil Mickelson has said about Oakmont ahead of 2025 US Open

Speaking in 2016, one week before the US Open at Oakmont, Mickelson claimed the daunting Pennsylvania course was the most challenging layout he’s ever played.

“I’ve played Oakmont the last two days, and I really think it is the hardest golf course we’ve ever played,” Mickelson said. They don’t know what the weather is going to be next week if it’s going to be dry or if it’s going to be wet.

“So what they do is they let the rough grow long, and if it is wet, they’ll leave it like that, and if it’s dry, they’ll thin it out. So yesterday the rough was extremely long, I guess, and challenging. But it’s a very fair test, even though it’s hard.”

He added: “But a lot of golf courses, when it challenges you tee to green the way Oakmont does, it usually has a little bit of a reprieve on the greens, and you really don’t at Oakmont. They’re some of the most undulating, fast, difficult greens to putt. It really is the hardest golf course I think we’ve played.”

Oakmont has also hosted three PGA Championships, six US Amateurs, and two US Women’s Opens. Mickelson missed the cut at the 2016 US Open, which Dustin Johnson won.

Oakmont’s greens could be too much at 2025 US Open

With the US Open returning to Oakmont in 2025, speculation over how tough the course could play will emerge.

If the weather remains dry, firm fairways, thick rough and lightning-fast greens could lead to one of the most demanding US Open’s in years.

Golf Channel pundit Smylie Kaufman has raised concern about the pace of the greens after witnessing them first-hand during the 2016 event.

“The greens are insane,” Kaufman said. “Some are too much, in my opinion, and the ones that aren’t too much. When I make my pick for this event, I’ll side with a guy who fades the golf ball because the greens that are too ridiculous tilt this way – right to left – so obviously, that favours a guy who can curve something into that slope.”