Phil Mickelson is assured at least one more crack at the major that has given him the most heartache. He accepted a special exemption Friday to play the U.S.
Open. Mickelson becomes the first player since Vijay Singh in 2010 to receive an exemption without having won the U.S. Open, and he's not without merit.
He has won five majors — all of them except the U.S. Open — to go along with his 44 victories on the PGA Tour. He has been eligible for every U.S.
Open dating to 1994, but the 50-year-old Mickelson has fallen out of the top 100 in the world ranking. He had said in February 2020, a month before golf shut down because of the pandemic, that he would not accept an exemption even if the USGA offered him one.