What a week of golf we had for the US Open at Merion Golf Club! With a soaked Merion Golf Club, many in the media were expecting scores in the low 60s and a softer and more accessible US Open – this definitely wasn’t the case as the winner, Justin Rose, finished the tournament with a score of 1-over. Merion proved to be a tough test for the pros who struggled with the thick rough (no graduated rough this week!) and the course’s difficult-to-read greens. It was a wild Sunday that had four players within striking distance of their first US Open win though – Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose, Hunter Mahan and Jason Day were in position to win their first US Open, however, it was Rose that was triumphant. Check out the video below of how much golf means to Justin and the commitment to the game he has.
The win was Rose’s first major championship – he had won four times on the PGA Tour before this week and his best previous finish at a major was third at last year’s PGA Championship. He might be best known for his fourth place finish at the 1998 British Open as a 17-year-old amateur though. For Phil Mickelson though, this may be one of the toughest losses in his career. At the beginning of the week, he attended his daughter’s 8th grade graduation ceremony in San Diego before taking a red eye flight back to the Philadelphia area, arriving at roughly 4:00AM EST. His tee time was roughly 7:00AM! That didn’t seem to phase him as he entered the final round with a one shot lead at 1-under par. It seemed to finally be Lefty’s week as he felt he was striking the ball and putting the ball as well as he has ever been in his career. In addition to that, Sunday marked his 43rd birthday as well as Father’s Day – if he had won, it would have been a great ending to his week. For now, Mickelson will have to live with his 6th runner up in the US Open. “Every time I think of the U.S. Open,” Phil Mickelson said, “I think of heartbreak.”
Source: US Open
