UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. — Phil Mickelson loped off the first tee at Chambers Bay early Tuesday, the morning sun still hidden within a slate-gray sky, when two women with snow-white hair squealed in delight.
"Oh, there he is!" one said to the other, just out of his earshot. "He's so close!"
Oh, so close.
What better way to describe Mickelson and the U.S. Open?
Always the sentimental favorite this time of year, the five-time major winner arrived at the links-style course hard against the Puget Sound this week still searching for his first win in his national championship.