At 50, Phil Mickelson still loves the chase and caught himself one more major championship

For a few brief moments Phil Mickelson's dream of conquering Winged Foot to complete a career grand slam was on track at the U.S. Open, but inaccuracy off the tee once again gave him nightmares. A week after hitting just 12 of 56 fairways at the Safeway Open, Mickelson managed to find the short grass off the tee just twice in Thursday's opening round on the way to a dismal 9-over 79. The 50-year-old's chance at redemption from 2006 looked a chance after he rolled in back-to-back birdies out of the gate. Perhaps he truly had let go of the infamous 72nd hole double bogey that helped Geoff Ogilvy claim the trophy over 14 years ago. Mickelson's early birdies came despite missing both fairways left into deep rough and the fairytale writers lifted their eyebrows and dared to think something special might be on its way. However, the inaccuracy quickly caught up. From the moment a four-foot par putt on the third hole lipped out, Mickelson found himself in a deep spiral not even his 44-time PGA TOUR winning experience could fight. Bogeys on the fourth, fifth and eighth followed with Mickelson not chalking up his first fairway until the par-5 ninth hole. It didn't help as he would go on to make par after another missed putt. Bogey at 10 and another at 13 came soon after the turn with the latter the start of a six-hole finishing stretch that the six-time U.S. Open runner-up played in six over. Ultimately, he would finish 14 shots off the pace and all but officially be eliminated from contention. Only U.S. Mid-Amateur champion Lukas Michel (80) was behind him on the leaderboard. The words he said as he left Napa must have been ringing in his ears throughout the round. "The last couple of months I’ve been missing it more to the right and not worried about the left and the left crept in again," Mickelson had said after the Safeway Open. "For years I missed it left. I haven’t been fearing that at all lately, but this week I missed it left, which is not good. I can deal with missing it right now, but not left." He went on to say he was confident of being able to turn it around before the opening round in New York but sadly that was not the case. Prior to the Safeway Open he had won his debut start at PGA TOUR Champions. "I actually have had some nice breakthroughs in the last year and I feel like I’m on the precipice of playing really well, but I’ve got to get it to click," he said.

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Coming off a missed cut in his last outing, Spieth heads to the picturesque Pebble Beach Pro-Am with several reasons to feel good about his prospects.

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From the most valuable perspective, the Wells Fargo Championship begins the surge toward the FedExCup Playoffs. That perspective is playing time. Beginning this week and extending through the Wyndham Championship on the first weekend of August, 10 of the 13 remaining non-majors are open events. The two of the 10 that don’t reserve space for maximum fields of 156 are additional events that will host 132. In other words, for almost all PGA TOUR members with fully exempt status, and even for many with conditional status or worse, they can count on a full schedule the rest of the way. Of course, it won’t be easy, especially at Quail Hollow Club. In its post-major debut for the rank and file last year, it was the toughest par 71 in a non-major in all of 2-17-18. For more on the stern test, how Jason Day scaled to victory and other nuggets, scroll past the ranking. Among other notables, Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider will include Henrik Stenson, J.B. Holmes, Jason Kokrak and 2018 co-runners-up Aaron Wise and Nick Watney. Even as a par 72 since the inaugural edition of the Wells Fargo Championship in 2003, Quail Hollow challenged fiercely, so when Tom Fazio set it up to play as a par 71 for the 2017 PGA Championship, it came as no surprise that it established all kinds of new standards in difficulty in recent decades. After Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington, North Carolina, pinch-hit as host of the 2017 WFC, Quail Hollow returned to the standard PGA TOUR lineup last year. The field averaged 1.132 strokes over par, the most on the track since 2007 (+1.280). Because it can stretch to 7,554 yards, the ability to move it off the tee will define the champion. At least in part. Quail Hollow is an equal-opportunity experience. Even though Day ranked ninth in distance of all drives a year ago with an average of 316.3 yards, almost 15 yards longer than the field average, he split fewer than half of his fairways and averaged just 10.25 greens in regulation per round to rank T69. The Aussie also finished a distant 59th in proximity to the hole on the 6,578-square-foot targets. Instead, true to his vintage, Day excelled with his short game. With only four whiffs inside 10 feet, he ranked second in conversion percentage in that range, strokes gained: putting and scrambling. Customary for winners who don’t stand over many par breakers with a putter but still capitalize, Day led the field in putts per GIR and co-led in putting: birdies-or-better. Overseeded primary rough allowed to extend to two-and-a-half inches in places won’t dissuade decisions to swing drivers. As Day proved, finding the shortest grass isn’t a prerequisite. In fact, of the 12 who finished inside the top 10 on last year’s leaderboard, eight ranked outside the top 30 in driving accuracy. Still, there’s nowhere to hide at Quail Hollow and there should be zero expectation to slingshot into the lead on the final three holes known as The Green Mile. Collectively, this par 4-3-4 finish averaged 0.864 strokes over par last year. That was one-fifth of a stroke lower than how it played for the PGA Championship a year prior. Each hole of The Green Mile ranked inside the top 50 of all holes all season on the PGA TOUR. Fittingly, Day set a new mark for winners of the tournament. Not only did he go 3-under on the trio for the week – lowest of any champion – he also went bogey-free. With inclement weather forecast, it’s possible that the Champion bermudagrass greens won’t touch the intended 12 feet on the Stimpmeter, but anything is possible in this part of the country at this time of year. Daytime highs will eclipse 80 degrees and the wind might kick up a bit, but it won’t play a role often in club selection. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Fantasy Insider WEDNESDAY: One & Done THURSDAY: Champions One & Done * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesdays.

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