Is Phil Mickelson playing final U.S. Open? USGA weighs in

Phil Mickelson knows the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club could be his last go-round at the only major championship he hasn’t won — the one he has long coveted.

The 54-year-old Mickelson has started to confront his golfing mortality. Before last week’s tournament at LIV Virginia, Mickelson also acknowledged that this U.S. Open could be a farewell.

“There’s a high likelihood that it will be, but I haven’t really thought about it too much,” Mickelson said last week.

Mickelson’s five-year exemption from winning the 2021 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island runs out after this season. However, the USGA has granted exemptions in the past. They awarded one to Mickelson in 2021, before he won the PGA Championship, and could do so again next year when the tournament returns to Shinnecock Hills, if they so choose. Mickelson’s colorful history with the USGA — from criticizing setups to the hockey putt at Shinnecock in 2018 — coupled with his dip in play and the fact that he’s not a past champion, might not make him a likely candidate for a lifeline from the USGA.

But chief championship officer John Bodenhammer left the door open for Mickelson to play in 2026 during the USGA’s pre-tournament press conference on Wednesday at Okamont.

“Phil did receive one in 2021,” Bodenhammer said. “It’s like anything; we would review things for Shinnecock ahead of next year and look at all of those possibilities and evaluate it from there. I think the way that we would also think of Phil is we hope he earns his way in, and I think he’d tell you the same thing. That’s what he did last time. We gave him one and then he went out and won the PGA Championship. So wouldn’t put it past him.”

Mickelson has nine top-10s and six runner-up finishes during his illustrious U.S. Open career. However, he hasn’t made a cut since 2021 and hasn’t finished in the top 10 since 2013. He has also missed six of his last nine cuts in majors since his T2-finish at the 2023 Masters.

Given his history at Shinnecock Hills — he finished runner-up in 2004 — the 2026 U.S. Open, which would be Mickelson’s 35th, would be a fitting send-off for the lefty.

But if Mickelson doesn’t play his way in, it’ll be up to the USGA to decide if that’s a gift they want to give.