16 February 2024 , 17:03
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The clock is ticking for Phil Mickelson as he tries to match Tiger Woods' major championship grand slam, with his US Open dreams fading.
The 53-year-old has six major titles to his name and has pieced together one of the greatest careers in the history of the game, but glory in his national open has eluded him, with six agonising second-place finishes. The most recent of which came in 2013 when he was outlasted by Justin Rose at Merion.
The 45-time PGA Tour winner, one of LIV Golf's flagship signings when the breakaway tour launched in 2022, is coming to the end of his career, but his 2021 triumph in the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island and a second-place finish at The Masters last year showed he still has the ability to compete in the biggest tournaments.
His near misses in the US Open have only furthered his desire to achieve his dream of lifting the famous trophy, insisting he will not retire from elite golf until his chance is definitively over.
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He said in 2021: "Winning the US Open has been a lifelong and elusive dream, and I’ve come close so many times. You can’t win if you don’t play."
Mickelson's window of opportunity is closing quickly, though. The lack of ranking points on offer in LIV Golf has seen him plummet to 140 in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR), not earning any points since The Open Championship last summer, meaning he has to rely on his previous successes in the majors.
Mickelson is racing against time to complete the career grand slam (Getty Images)Mickelson has lifetime exemptions for The Masters and the PGA Championship, and he has punched his ticket for The Open Championship until he is 60. But his entry into the US Open is only guaranteed until 2026, with his Kiawah Island victory earning a five-year exemption.
Players on both sides of the PGA Tour and LIV Golf argument are hoping for a positive resolution to the proposed merger involving the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, which would reopen the door for LIV's stars to play their way into the majors, but the unpredictable twists and turns in the professional game over the past two years suggests nothing can be taken for granted.
As things stand, time is running out for Mickelson to claim the final piece of the puzzle in the shape of the US Open Championship Trophy, with the odds certainly stacked against him. This year's US Open will be held at Pinehurst, with the 2025 edition hosted at Oakmont.
Although Mickelson has enjoyed great success throughout his career, he has spent much of it in Woods' shadow, never reaching the top spot of the OWGR due to Woods' dominance during Mickelson's prime. Woods completed the career grand slam when he lifted the Claret Jug in 2000, and it appears Mickelson's chance of equaling that feat will pass him by if he does not beat the odds in the next couple of years.