OAKMONT, Pa. — Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler found themselves in their own unique pairing once the cut was made Saturday afternoon at the 116th U.S. Open.
They were the odd men out, the unlikeliest people to miss the cut at a tournament they all felt they could win.
They say misery loves company. If that’s the case, at least these three have each other.
Mickelson was the most surprised, thinking his total of 7-over par through the first two rounds at Oakmont Country Club would have been good enough to play through the weekend. Instead, he missed the cut by a stroke, ensuring that for the 26th year, he would not win the U.S. Open, the glaring omission on an otherwise stellar résumé.
McIlroy had the cut made through 35 holes. Unfortunately, he had to play a 36th, the par-four ninth. There, he hit his drive into a gaping fairway bunker, then flubbed his second shot, watching it pop up, travel about 5 feet and land right back in the sand. McIlroy ended with a double-bogey and finished at 8-over. Disgusted, he blew by reporters and kept right on walking.
Fowler, the only one of the three to never win a major, would have loved to have been so close. He was out of it almost from the beginning, shooting a 6-over 76 in the first round, then a 75 in the second round. At 11-over, he missed the cut by five shots.
Only two players in the top 50 of the world golf rankings have missed the cut in this year’s Masters, Players Championship and U.S. Open: Fowler and Mickelson.
It gets worse. This is only the second time in his career that Mickelson has missed at least two cuts in the majors in the same year. The other was in 2007, at the U.S. and British Opens. He has missed only three cuts in his 26 U.S. Opens.
As for Fowler, he is a combined 25-over par in his last four U.S. Open rounds.
And McIlroy? He had finished in the top 25 in nine consecutive majors before this week. The last time he missed the cut in a major was at the 2013 British Open.
Fowler and McIlroy were playing partners, and, in the second round, McIlroy got off to the kind of start people talk about when you’re accepting the trophy on Sunday. After shooting 7-over in the first round, McIlroy birdied four of his first seven holes and had a long eagle putt to potentially go to 6-under for the day. He missed it and ended up with a par, but as he made the turn, he was 3-over for the tournament, and appeared to be right back in the hunt.
Until he fell right back out of it. Playing his 12th hole, the par-4 third, McIlroy four-putted — three of them from within 3 feet — for a double bogey. Then came a bogey three holes later, then the finishing double-bogey three holes after that.
“Rory got off to a great start,” Fowler said. “I was kind of fighting back, and we were all trying to get it going and feed off each other. It was unfortunate to see him finish the way he did. It’s never fun when it’s yourself struggling, seeing your friends struggle.”
It was notable that Fowler stuck around and answered question after question, while McIlroy bolted. He and Fowler are both 27, but one is clearly more mature than the other.
No one was surprised that 46-year-old Mickelson was as willing as Fowler to talk about a bad couple of days at the office.
“I really enjoyed the challenge,” Mickelson said. “I didn’t score the way I would have liked to, but I enjoyed the challenge.”
And so it went for Phil, Rory and Rickie. There was only one thing left to do: Fire up the private jets. It was time to go home.
PHOTOS: SATURDAY AT THE U.S. OPEN
