It’s become a rite of summertime passage for golf fans, as predictable as both the broiling temperature readings and simmering tempers at the world’s toughest major championship, the U.S. Open.
Each June, usually by Tuesday of tournament week, a prominent player will utter a daunting proclamation about the venue, describing it as the most punitive Open site he’s ever seen, before forecasting a dire outcome.
This time around, five-time major winner Phil Mickelson got a head start on sounding the calamity klaxons.
Mickelson spent a few days in early June playing suburban Pittsburgh’s notorious Oakmont Country Club, which will play host to the U.