Phil Mickelson 2010 US Open Congressional 4-shot comeback

Lore & Background

Congressional Country Club has long been regarded as one of the most unforgiving layouts in professional golf, and the 2010 US Open proved that reputation in spades. The course's deep rough, fast undulating greens, and narrow fairways turned the first three rounds into a war of attrition, with many of the field struggling to find the fairway. By the time the final round dawned, the field had been whittled down and the pressure was immense.

Mickelson's final round is told in two acts. The front nine was a patient, methodical setup — no reckless shots, no heroics, just the kind of controlled golf that kept him in contention. Then the back nine, and particularly the stretch from the 13th through the 18th, became a showcase of short-game brilliance and putter confidence. The crowd at the 18th green, a famously long and undulating putting surface, watched in a hush that only broke when the ball dropped and the lead changed hands.

In the broader narrative of Mickelson's career, the 2010 US Open sits alongside his 2004 Masters and 2009 PGA as the rounds where his competitive fire most visibly overrode any doubt. It was a statement round: not just a win, but a reminder that at 40, the lefty still had the hands and the heart to close out a major on the most demanding course in the calendar.

In Their Own Story

The June sun hung low over the 18th fairway at Congressional, casting long shadows across the grain of the green. Mickelson stood over a putt that would decide the US Open, the flagstick trembling in a light breeze that had been building all afternoon. The crowd — thousands of them pressed against the rope — had gone silent in that particular way that only happens when a major is on the line and one man is about to make his choice. He lined up, took a breath, and the ball rolled. The green swallowed it. The flagstick wobbled. And then the roar came, a sound that rolled off the water and into the trees beyond the backstop, as if the whole of Bethesda had exhaled at once. He set the club down, looked up at the sky, and let the moment land. Around him, the gallery erupted, strangers hugging strangers, and for a few seconds the only thing that mattered was the small white flag at the bottom of the cup and the man in the white shirt who had just outlasted the best field in golf.

Reader's Guide

Five o'clock, back nine, Congressional. Mickelson is four back. The air is thick, the rough is deep, and the greens are running fast under a late-June sun that's starting to dip. The crowd on the 13th is a wall of quiet tension — you can hear the thud of a driver from two holes over.

He plays the 13th, the 14th, the 15th with the kind of metronomic calm that makes the gallery lean in. No wild swings. No forced heroics. Just clean iron play, well-judged approach shots, and putts that break the right way. By the 16th the scoreboard has shifted. By the 17th the lead has changed hands. And on the 18th — that long, undulating, nerve-shredding green — he makes the putt that does it. One shot. A single shot after 72 holes of the most punishing golf of the season.

The round gets replayed every few years because it captures something rare: a player who is not trying to be brilliant, just trying to be right. It said that Mickelson's nerve was not a trait that faded with age; it was a trait that sharpened. In the season narrative, it reset the conversation about who could still win a major, and it reminded the Tour that the US Open, on a course like Congressional, still belonged to whoever could keep their hands still when everyone else's were shaking.

Did You Know?

• Mickelson had already captured the US Open at TPC Sawgrass in both 2005 and 2006, making Congressional his third distinct US Open venue.
• Congressional Country Club's back nine is widely considered one of the most difficult stretches of holes in professional golf, with deep rough and fast, undulating greens.
• The 2010 US Open final round showcased Mickelson's short game as much as his long game, with several crucial putts and approach shots deciding the outcome.
• Mickelson's 2010 US Open victory came at age 40, reinforcing his status as one of the most successful older major champions in PGA Tour history.