Kern: Mickelson taking another shot at U.S. Open

OAKMONT, Pa. - Among his record 82 PGA Tour victories, Sam Snead won seven majors. None of them happened to be a U.S. Open, in which he finished second four times.

In 1947 he missed a 30-inch putt on the last hole of a playoff against Lew Worsham to lose by one. In 1939 at Philadelphia Cricket Club he took a triple-bogey 8 on the final hole when a par would have won and a bogey would have put him into a four-way playoff.

Arnold Palmer won seven majors but not a PGA Championship. In 1968 he lost by a stroke to Julius Boros - who at 48 became the oldest to ever win any major - when he missed an 8-foot birdie putt on the closing hole.

Tom Watson won eight majors but never the PGA. In 1978 he held a five-shot lead after three rounds before losing in a three-way, sudden-death playoff that went to John Mahaffey on the second extra hole.

Which brings us to Phil Mickelson, who will celebrate his 46th birthday on Thursday as he plays in the opening round of his 26th U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club. That's the most appearances of anyone in the field. The second-best golfer of his generation has won five majors, the most recent being the British Open nearly three years ago. That was the grand-slam event most everyone, including him, figured he might have the hardest time winning. It came a month after he'd finished second in the season's second major for a record sixth time. The week at Merion he was in front the entire way. On Sunday, he made two bogeys in his final six holes, both times when he hit wedge into the greens, to end up two behind Justin Rose.

He called that his biggest disappointment. It was hardly the only one at the U.S. Open.

In 1999, he was tied with Payne Stewart with three holes to go at Pinehurst. Stewart made two long putts, while Lefty was missing a short one, to take a 1-stroke lead to 18. There Stewart drained an 18-footer for par, after Phil barely missed his birdie attempt, to win by one. And Phil immediately flew across the country to become a father for the first time.

Five years later at Shinnecock Hills, Mickelson led by one with two to play. He double-bogeyed 17 by 3-putting from 5 feet and lost by two to Retief Goosen.

In 2006 at Winged Foot, he was trying to win his third straight major. He was up one standing on the 72nd tee. He made another double-the details are still too gory to rehash - to finish one behind Geoff Ogilvy.

And in 2009 at Bethpage Black he was tied for first with five left after making an eagle on 13. He then missed a short birdie putt at 14, 3-putted for bogey on 15 and bogeyed 17 to end up two in back of Lucas Glover.

That, of course, is way too much for anyone to endure. Yet what else can you do but keep trying, for as long as you're able.

He hasn't won since the 2013 British. But he has five top fives this season, including two runner-ups. One of them was last week at the St. Jude Classic in Memphis. He did miss the cut at the Masters, where he's a three-time winner.

So who knows? For whatever it means, he missed the cut the last time the national championship was played here. That was nine years ago, when he injured his wrist three weeks before the tournament hitting out of the rough during a practice round here.

The oldest person to win this major was Hale Irwin, who'd just turned 45 when he lifted the trophy for the third time in 1990.

Five men have won all four of the modern majors: Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tiger Woods.

It's the company you keep.

"My career is built on failure, and that has been a motivator for me," Mickelson, who recently had to pay back about $1 million in profits and penalties for what was determined to be his non-criminal role in an insider stock trade, said Wednesday. "Because I think how you handle failure is a huge element to becoming successful . . .

"I view those players that have won the four majors totally different than I view any others - all the others. I could BS you and tell you that I don't think about it. No, I think about it all the time. This is the tournament I want to win the most to complete (my career). There's no question. But I have to put that out of my head and execute and be patient and not think about the results. You start thinking about results, you never play your best golf."

He flew home to California to be at his daughter Sophia's eighth-grade graduation on Tuesday. Just as he flew home from Merion to do the same thing for his daughter Amanda. Didn't seem to hurt him that time. At least for the first 66 holes.

"It's just important for me to be there for that stuff," he explained. "A lot of the young guys in their 20s don't really have to think about (that) yet. It's also brought some of the greatest joy in my life. That means a lot to me."

He's called this maybe the hardest course he's ever seen. And that's more than OK with him. This time he just hasn't practiced out of the rough.

"I'd rather wait to get hurt during the tournament rather than before it," he said, smiling. "There's no reprieve off the tee, into the greens . . . (or) on the greens. That being said, it also gives me the best chance because after 25 years, you have to really know how to play this style of golf. I would love to see it cross the line, the way U.S. Opens often do, and become a little bit over the edge. Whatever the score is doesn't matter. Every hole out here plays over par. I just feel like I've developed a game plan that will allow me to come out on top.

"Can't dwell on the past. I view this week as a great opportunity that would be historic in my mind."

In anyone's mind. Especially for someone who didn't win his first major until he was 33, the same age as Sarazen was when he won his last.

"I've played very well this year, even though I haven't had that elusive win I'm looking for," he said. "I've played some of my better golf than I have in a long time, probably 10 years or so.

"It's my national open. It would mean the world to me. I don't want to get disingenuous and downplay it. But that's the last thing I want to think about over the next four days because it doesn't help me play well. It doesn't help me accomplish my goal.

"I've got to enjoy the process, and that doesn't include focusing on the end result."

Of course, everyone else can. Bobby Jones won the 1925 U.S. Amateur here, Snead the 1951 PGA, Hogan the 1953 Open and Nicklaus the 1962 Open (in a playoff over Palmer). It's quite a roll call.

The addition of Mickelson would only enhance that legacy. His too.

@mikekerndn