U.S. Open: With LIV Golf drama behind him for now, Phil Mickelson may have to wait for career Grand Slam

LOS ANGELES — Phil Mickelson casually walked up to mark his ball on the 14th green at Los Angeles Country Club on Thursday afternoon when a fan in the grandstands called out to him.

“Phil, you were right!” the man yelled, clearly referencing LIV Golf’s surprise partnership with the PGA Tour that was announced last week. “You were right about everything!”

“Tell that to my wife,” Mickelson hit back cheekily, smiling, as he marked his ball just a few feet from the cup.

The moment was one of countless the former fan favorite-turned alienated veteran encountered during his opening round at the U.S. Open on Thursday in Southern California. While there was some heckling — there was a brief incident on the ninth green and a fan in a sombrero was kicked out — it was largely minimal. Mickelson was flashing his trademark thumbs up constantly, and fans, even after the tumultuous year the soon-to-be 54-year-old has been through since he first sided with Saudi Arabia and LIV Golf early last year, were largely on his side.

For a long time Thursday, he seemed to thrive in that position. Mickelson, sporting his LIV Golf HyFlyers team logo on a plain black polo, seemed calm and content for most of his round. It wasn’t until a stumble at the end that tempered what could have been a great opening round at the only major he's never won.

Mickelson posted an opening-round 1-under 69, spoiled largely due to a pair of unnecessary bogeys in his final four holes. He’ll enter Friday seven shots back of co-leaders Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele — who set a U.S. Open record with their 8-under 62s.

“I played OK. I hit a few swings coming down the stretch, I made two bad swings that cost me a few strokes,” Mickelson said. “But I hit a lot of good shots today. It’s a decent start, and I have a chance tomorrow morning to come out and shoot a good, solid round to get myself in position for the weekend.”

Career Grand Slam may be out of reach this summer

Mickelson has accomplished just about everything possible in golf. A U.S. Open win, however, is the one thing that’s eluded him time and again.

The 45-time Tour winner has six major championship titles to his name, most recently at the 2021 PGA Championship. The U.S. Open, though, is the last thing he needs to complete the career Grand Slam — something only five others have done in history. Mickelson has finished second at the U.S. Open an incredible six times, too, but hasn’t been able to get it done.

Based on how he finished on Thursday, this week may be out of the question, too.

Mickelson went 2-under through four holes with a pair of birdies, and then made back-to-back birdies on his back nine to offset the lone bogey he made on his front side. The second birdie, at the par-3 4th, came after he sank a massive putt from across the green.

That, however, is about where it ended. Mickelson had to scramble to save bogey at the short par-4 6th after he chunked a clear chip into the barranca below the green, and then he bogeyed again on the next hole to wipe out his earlier birdies completely.

Still, even after the mistakes, Mickelson wasn’t writing himself off that easily.

“I’m playing well enough to get myself in position for the weekend, which is what the goal is,” Mickelson said.

As for his involvement leading the LIV Golf charge and the new partnership, Mickelson didn't want to get into it just yet.

“I don’t want to detract right now from this tournament and where I’m at,” he said. “I’m playing well, I want to get myself in contention.”

Mickelson has a long way to go to pull off the one thing in golf he still needs, something that would do wonders for his legacy after the last year and a half.

But it will take a tremendous round Friday morning to get himself in position to pull that off this weekend. With how low the field already is, it may already be too late.