Phil Mickelson covered a lot of ground during his 20-plus-minute press conference ahead of his 31st start in the U.S. Open. He talked about his golf game, too, noting that The Country Club is “going to be a brutal test of golf.”
The 51-year-old has 45 career PGA Tour wins including six majors, but he’s never won a U.S. Open title. He has made 26 cuts in 30 starts with 10 top-10 finishes, which include a record six runner-up results (1999, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2013. Regarding the state of his game, which has seen action just once since February (at last week’s inaugural LIV Golf event), Mickelson acknowledged the challenge facing him in Brookline, Mass. “I think it was important for me to have a little bit of competitive golf last week and identify some of the areas of weakness. It was one of the worst putting tournaments I’ve had in years,” he said, referring to his T-33 finish last week in London. “I spent time yesterday addressing that, which is why I basically putted the whole day on the course. In the offseason, I actually made some strides ball-striking-wise, and I’m fairly optimistic there, but it will be a real challenge. These are the best players in the world, and it’s the hardest test of the year.” Mickelson was part of the winning U.S. Ryder Cup team that triumphed at The Country Club in 1999. See link below for a full transcript of Mickelson’s comments.