Wednesday 17 June 2015 11:50, UK
Phil Mickelson insists he is motivated by a fear of failure ahead of his second attempt to complete a career grand slam by winning the US Open.
Mickelson has finished runner-up in the year's second major championship a record six times, most recently when he shared the 54-hole lead at Merion in 2013 but went on to finish second behind Justin Rose.
A month later, the left-hander won his first Open title at Muirfield to leave himself needing to win his national open to join Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods in achieving the career grand slam.
Speaking at his pre-tournament press conference, Mickelson said: "I've always been somebody, ever since I was a kid, that got motivated by failure, that worked harder because of failure.
"Some people get discouraged by that and it almost pushes them away. But for me it's been a motivator to continue to work harder and get over that hump, whether it was trying to win my first major championship, that took significantly longer than I thought it would, whether it's trying to win an Open Championship, or whether it's trying to win a US Open championship.
"The fact that I've come so close is actually a motivator for me to work harder. And it's encouraging that I've done well in this tournament. It's encouraging that I've had success and that I've played some of my best golf in this event and that I've had a number of opportunities."
Aside from the opportunity at Merion, Mickelson was runner-up in 1999, 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2009, famously matching Colin Montgomerie in making a double-bogey on the 72nd hole at Winged Foot in 2006 to finish a shot behind Geoff Ogilvy.
And the world number 17 said: "It was a tournament I feel I should have won, that I was playing well enough to win and a couple of mistakes late in the tournament ended up costing me.
"Not to take anything away from Justin, who won, and his great play, he played a phenomenal final round - but I felt like I didn't have to play exceptional to shoot a lower score than that and I just didn't do it."
