Phil Mickelson's poor putting lands him 13 back at US Open

Phil Mickelson had hopes of winning his first ever US Open this week at Pinehurst, but some poor work on the greens has the left-hander sitting 13 strokes off the lead after Friday’s play.

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A dejected Mickelson, now tied for 33rd in the tournament, has all but given up on winning the Open after registering a 3-over-par 73 on Friday, saying via ESPN.com:

"“I feel like I’m playing well enough to win the U.S. Open, except for putting. It’s kind of the same story. After I’ve 3-putted three or four times, I kind of lose my focus on the other stuff. It affects my ability to concentrate and my momentum and energy.“It’s a frustrating time because I feel like the other parts of my game are there. I had such a great stretch last year putting. I feel like it’s in there. It doesn’t feel like the ball is coming off bad. I don’t feel like the stroke is bad, but I’m just not dialed in. I’m just not making them.”"

The struggling Mickelson 4-putted on three different holes, and took 34 total putts for the round.

“I made the putt on 2 and 3 and I hit a really good putt on 5 that didn’t go and I thought I was going to have a good day,” Mickelson said. “The three-putt on 6 shoot me a little bit. Then 8. After that I was really fighting it.”

A victory at Pinehurst would make Mickelson just the sixth player to win a career Grand Slam – victories in all four major championships – but Mickelson wasn’t optimistic about his chances of pulling it off.

“I’m not overly optimistic,” Mickelson said. “Obviously I’m not in good position. You can’t fire at a lot of the pins. You’ve got to make 25-, 30-footers and I’m just not doing it. I’m not going to give up, you never know.”

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Phil Mickelson’s poor putting lands him 13 back at US Open

By Michael Collins | Jun 13, 2014