Phil Mickelson insist he would turn down 'sympathy' invite to US Open
"I don't want a sympathy spot. If I am good enough to make it and qualify, then I need to earn my spot there."
By Keith Jackson
Last Updated: 06/02/20 10:00am
Phil Mickelson has insisted he would turn down a special exemption for this year's US Open if he fails to qualify outright.
Mickelson has not given up hope of landing the one major to elude him, and he remains confident of earning his place at Winged Foot, the venue for one of his agonising near-misses in the tournament when it was last staged there in 2006.
Should he fail to qualify, the 49-year-old would be a candidate for a special invite from tournament organisers, the USGA, based on his history with the event and his popularity with the home fans.
But Mickelson revealed he would not take up any kind of invitation as he would regard it as "sympathy", and he is focused on earning his place in the field on merit.
"I won't accept it," said Mickelson, who needed a par at the last to win the US Open at Winged Foot 14 years ago before making a mess of the hole and running up a double-bogey to finish one behind Geoff Ogilvy.
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"I am either going to get in the field on my own or I'll have to try to qualify. I'm not going to take a special exemption, I just won't. The USGA have never been an organisation that likes to give out exemptions, special exemptions, but I don't want a special exemption.
"I think I'll get in the tournament and, if I get in, I deserve to be there. If I don't, I don't. I don't want a sympathy spot. If I am good enough to make it and qualify, then I need to earn my spot there."
Mickelson is also keen to remain competitive on the PGA Tour for as long as possible after he turns 50 this year, two days before the US Open, and he is not planning to join the PGA Tour Champions any time soon.
"A lot of the guys on the Champions Tour are friends of mine, people I really enjoy being around, and I appreciate all that they did for me starting out," he added.
"I don't want to hurt the Champions Tour in any way and if not playing the Champions Tour is going to hurt it, I'll play a couple of events. I'll probably play one, two or three events a year because I want to support it, I want it to be successful, I don't want to hurt it or be detrimental to it in any way.
"But I feel like to be successful on a Tour you have to commit entirely to that one Tour. So if it's either going to be the PGA Tour or the Champions Tour, I don't see me oscillating back and forth until I'm ready to go one way or the other.
"And I'm not saying I'm not going to play the Champions Tour right now. I'm just saying that I believe the next six months are going to be really good and encouraging for me to play out here because this motivates me to compete against the best players in the world.
"That drives me to get in the gym, it drives me to work hard on the range, it drives me to spend time on the putting green. And I'm not sure I would have the same passion and drive to be my best on the Champions Tour, but I have it out here and so right now it's starting to bring out the best in me and I want to play out here."