Mickelson chases elusive US Open

LA JOLLA – Phil Mickelson will try to complete a career Grand Slam on his hometown course while long-driving Bryson DeChambeau defends his first major title in next week’s US Open.

The 121st US Open begins Thursday at Torrey Pines on the coastal cliffs of the Pacific Ocean, the same golf course where Tiger Woods outlasted Rocco Mediate in an epic playoff to win the 2008 US Open on a broken leg.

“How much pain he went through, how much struggle and strife and agony he went through, all that pain, and to come out on top is something that is unfathomable,” DeChambeau said. “It has inspired me to work even harder.”

Woods, an eight-time winner at Torrey Pines, won’t be competing after suffering severe leg injuries in a February car crash, but there will still be drama on the layout where the US PGA Tour’s Farmers Insurance Open is staged annually.

Mickelson, a left-hander from nearby San Diego, shocked the golf world last month by winning his sixth major title at the PGA Championship on Kiawah Island, becoming the oldest major champion in history at age 50.

Ageless wonder Mickelson, three times a PGA event winner at Torrey Pines, turns 51 on Wednesday.