The American Golfer Phil Mickelson He acknowledged this Monday that he is facing a week full of incentives, both personal and professional, and all aimed at favoring his participation in the US Open, which begins on Thursday.
Mickelson has the confidence of having won the PGA Championship last month, along with the added motivation of preparing for an elusive title in his hometown.
The seasoned golfer, who turns 51 on Wednesday, said he spent the past week working on his game at Torrey Pines, a place he has had a love-hate relationship with over the years due to a redesign of the course. That changed the way it was played when he grew up in the area.
“It is a unique opportunity because I have never won a US Open,” he said. Mickelson after a round of training at Torrey Pines.
“It’s in my backyard. I have the opportunity to prepare properly and I wanted to do the right job,” he added.
To get it, Mickelson He admitted that he completely isolated himself from the outside world and that he doesn’t feel any extra pressure either.
“I turned off all the noise. I turned off my phone. I turned off a lot of other things so I could focus on this week and really give my best chance to try to play my best. Now, you always need a little luck, you always need things please join in and click but I know I’m playing well and I just wanted to give myself every opportunity to play at my best. “
The field was closed to the public last week in preparation for the US Open, and Mickelson He took advantage of it especially practicing on the greens.
The six-time Major winner, who won what is now the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines three times, admits that he has had to accept changes made by Rees Jones in 2001.
The man known as the ‘Open Doctor’ did a renovation of the field in hopes of landing a US Open; the work paid off as Torrey Pines was the venue in 2008 when they were proclaimed champion Tiger Woods and it will be this year too.
Mickelsonhowever, he never adapted. He has just four top-10 finishes in 18 starts since the trades, including a legitimate shot at victory, 10 years ago, when he finished second behind Bubba Watson.
At the 2008 US Open, Mickelson he played the first two rounds disastrously without a driver. In the first one he was a hit below WoodsBut he hit a 9 over par in the third when it took three strokes to get the ball onto the 13th green and finished tied for 18th.
“I’ve played here a lot since the reorganization, but I really haven’t spent a lot of time learning the nuances, and I did that early last week,” he explained. Mickelson.
Phil Mickelson has finished second a record six times at the US Open, most recently in 2013 in Merion, Pennsylvania, where he finished two strokes behind England’s Justin rose.
His other performances closest to the title were in 1999 at Pinehurst, North Carolina, where he finished a stroke behind Payne Stewart, and in 2006 at Winged Foot (New York), where a double bogey on the 72nd hole made him lose by one to the Australian Geoff Ogilvy.
The US Open title, the only great one that is missing from his record, prevents him from Mickelson have a Grand Slam in your career.
“When you know you’re playing at a certain level and you’re patient and it finally clicks, like it happened at the PGA, I felt like I had been playing at that level for a couple of months, but I wasn’t,” he noted. Mickelson. “Then when it all came together in a perfect moment like that, it was exciting to put it together.”
Mickelson He stressed that they have been a few months of great experience for his future.
“I am hopeful that some of the things I learned going forward will carry over and give me more opportunities this summer, because I feel like I’m playing good golf.”
