Fuente: © PGA of America
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GOLF: PGA: Mickelson disappointed with meltdown

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One disastrous hole cost Phil Mickelson any chance of winning the US Open in his hometown.

Mickelson has worked so hard for the past two months to prepare for the tournament, only to lose it in just a couple of minutes on Saturday. He was making steady progress in his third round until he ran up a quadruple-bogey nine at the par-five 13th at Torrey Pines.

"I was one-over par and I felt if I could get birdie there on 13, I could get back to even-par for the day," he said. "I felt one or two (birdies) coming in and I would be right there, so that's obviously a bummer."

He added: "It's a great pin that will entice guys to get a little bit close and certainly that's what I did on my first shot. The other two were just poor, but the first shot had a good chance of being close and making birdie, and it just came back down."

By the end of the round, Mickelson seemed to have come to terms with his fate, and was even talking about next year's US Open at Bethpage, perhaps a tad prematurely considering there are still two more majors up for grabs this year.

"I'm certainly disappointed I'm not in the mix," he said. "This is something I wanted a lot and I just didn't play well this week, so I'm going to come out tomorrow and enjoy my final round. And Bethpage is one of the best places ever - one of the best memories in the game of golf I've ever had. I get to go back there next year for the US Open. So I'm excited about the chance to try to break through and win my first US Open there."

Mickelson, who finally put a driver in his bag on Saturday after playing without one the first two rounds, no doubt will feel a touch envious as the only better player on the planet, Tiger Woods, takes a one-shot lead into the final round.

With three major titles to his credit - two Masters and a PGA Championship - Mickelson is clearly one of the best players of his generation, but his career won't be complete unless he wins his national open.

It would have been a fairytale ending to have won it at home, but the cold, hard reality is that he won't.
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