PINEHURST, NC — Phil Mickelson did not get that elusive fourth leg of his career Grand Slam at this US Open, but he insisted after his final round Sunday at Pinehurst, he did not leave a beaten man.
“You’ve got to put it all together to win a major championship,’’ he said after finishing 7-over for the week following a 72 on Sunday. “In this day and age, somebody’s going to play well. You can’t get by with scraping it around. You have to have it all firing. I didn’t have it all firing this week, but there will be other chances.’’
Asked if he believes he will break through and eventually win a U.S. Open after finishing runner-up a record six times, Mickelson said: “I believe in the next five years I’m going to have three or four really good chances, and I do believe I will get it. I’m not upset or disappointed; I will have more chances.
“And right now, given the way I have been playing heading into this tournament, it was really a long shot. I’ve got to get some momentum and get my game sharp for me to really have a chance at winning and I’m going to spend the next five, six weeks seeing if I can get that to get it going here to finish the year strong.’’
After 39 years passed without a European winning the US Open, it has been won by a European in four of the last five years, as Martin Kaymer joined Graeme McDowell (2010), Rory McIlroy (2011) and Justin Rose (2013).
“A lot of us are playing the majority of our golf over here; a lot of us have made the U.S. our home,’’ said Rose, who finished tied for 12th at 3-over. “So coming over and playing is no longer a foreign feeling. I think geographically a lot of us are now semi-Americans, the way we set up our schedule.’’
Kaymer won the Players Championship on Mother’s Day and the US Open on Father’s Day but he noted, “Our Father’s Day in Germany was a few weeks ago and didn’t get anything for my father so maybe this works.’’
Kaymer’s win matched the number of major championships (not including the Champions Tour) Bernhard Langer, the greatest golfer in German history, won. “We almost have a German Grand Slam,’’ Kaymer joked of Langer’s two Masters victories and his PGA and U.S. Open. “Only the British Open is missing.’’
Kaymer, whose German soccer team is in the game group as the U.S. in the World Cup draw, was asked for a prediction between the two. “You have two Germans on your team, you have a German coach (Jurgen Klinsmann), and he has been very successful with our team in 2006. So I think you are a little bit the underdog, you’re not as bad as people make you.
“USA, I wouldn’t say you guys have a chance to win the World Cup, but I think it’s not a given for Germany. But my bet would be 3-1 for Germany.’’
Kaymer had a funny interaction with one of the German soccer players, who had wished him well earlier in the tournament with the big lead he’d built.
“I was texting with one player on Friday evening and he said, ‘Very well done so far. The whole national team wishes you all the best for the weekend,’ ’’ Kaymer said. “I said, ‘Well, it’s only halftime.’ He said, ‘Well, I would take that lead at halftime against Portugal [on Monday].’ ’’
It was a surreal scene with LPGA stars wandering all over Pinehurst No. 2 while the men’s final round was taking place. The US Women’s Open is being played this week on the course the men just finished on, and a number of the women were hitting balls on the range, putting on the practice green and walking inside the ropes with the final two groups, including Brittany Lincicome and Yani Tseng.
“I did like it,’’ Kaymer said. “Some of them are very pretty. It relaxes the atmosphere a little bit. I’m sure a lot of guys out here enjoyed the view as much as we did.’’
Mickelson said: “There’s a lot of exciting female players that will be competing next week, and their shot selection will be interesting and their execution on such a demanding golf course will be interesting. It’s fun to watch when you already know what the golf course is like and how it plays and where you can and can’t go.’’
McIlroy said: “I saw Yani this morning, I saw a few girls that I grew up playing junior golf with, bumped into Michelle [Wie] earlier, a neighbor of mine down in Palm Beach. So it’s cool to run into the girls. I would like to see it happen more often. I think it’s a good thing. I think it’s a good thing for women’s golf to give them a little bit more exposure. I’m going to tune in and watch next week just to see how they get on around here and see how they fare.’’