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Phil Mickelson has said there’s a “high likelihood” this is his final U.S. Open appearance. The USGA isn’t ready to acknowledge as much.
Mickelson’s five-year major exemption for winning the 2021 PGA Championship runs out this week, raising the possibility that this could be the 54-year-old’s last appearance at the national championship. The USGA has a history of granting special exemptions to historical figures, including for Mickelson in 2021 at Torrey Pines in his hometown of San Diego (albeit one he didn’t need thanks to his PGA victory). However, a second one is far from guaranteed, for several reasons.
The first is Mickelson is not a former U.S. Open champ, finishing runner-up six times. He’s not been competitive for some time; since a surprising second-place standing at the 2023 Masters, Mickelson has missed the cut in six of his last nine major starts and his best finish is a T-43. Then there is Mickelson’s long combative past with the governing body, often criticising U.S. Open set-ups and in 2023 calling out the decision by USGA CEO Mike Whan on LIV player Talor Gooch’s tournament eligibility. That Mickelson has played a divisive role in professional golf’s civil war has also hurt his standing among industry leaders. In short, another special invitation from the USGA seems uncertain.
However, when USGA leadership was asked about Mickelson’s U.S. Open future on Wednesday at Oakmont, chief championship officer John Bodenhamer wasn’t ready to rule anything out.
“It’s like anything; we would review things for Shinnecock ahead of next year and look at all of those possibilities and evaluate it from there,” Bodenhamer. “I think the way that we would also think of Phil is we hope he earns his way in, and I think he’d tell you the same thing. That’s what he did last time. We gave him one and then he went out and won the PGA Championship. So wouldn’t put it past him.”
Next year’s U.S. Open is at Shinnecock. Mickelson finished runner-up at the 2004 U.S. Open at the venerable Long Island links, although his 2018 visit is remembered for hitting a moving ball in protest of the USGA’s set-up.
Mickelson tees off Thursday at 8:02 a.m. with fellow Open champs Cameron Smith and Brian Harman.
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Main Image: Patrick Smith
