The U.S. Open of 2013 enters its final round on Sunday with a familiar name in the lead, as Phil Mickelson is tops with a one under par at the tough Merion Golf Club and now he has the chance on father's day to catch what has eluded him for so long in the American major championship.
Mickelson's birthday is on Father's day this year and after coming in second five times in his career by a combined nine strokes at the tournament, he has a chance to finally win his first. Mickelson hit an even par round to stay on top on Saturday in the third round and the course continued to be the main story, as he is the only player under par, with names like Hunter Mahan and Charl Schwartzel a shot back at even par after shooting 69s, while Steve Stricker is also one back after shooting a 70. The rest of the leaderboard has Justin Rose and Luke Donald are two behind and names like Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy are low on the board.
Mickelson is ranked 10th in the world while Woods is first, but Lefty is the one in contention while Woods is way out of things after some rough play. Mickelson has come in as the runner up in many painful moments, including back in 2009 and now he has the chance to make up for all of that. Back in 2006 he had a rough finish, as he lost after leading on the 72nd hole and he ended up hitting a six shot double bogey to miss a playoff and his other breakdowns weren't much better. Mickelson has been playing better than anyone else through the weekend and the weather has been a prime factor as much as the level of play has.
Woods has struggled all tournament after winning four times on tour this year and in his first grouping, Rory McIlroy is also nine back after shooting a 75 on Saturday. Woods will remain ranked at number one no matter what happens, but his major drought will continue another tournament since back in 2008 when he won the US Open in a playoff and now he has the British Open to look forward to. Not too many golfers were able to remain in contention and some of the best work on Saturday was by Rickie Fowler, who is four shots off Mickelson, while the toughest round of the day was for Robert Karlsson at 86.
Mickelson had a nice streak of birdies on the back nine and he had some issues on the tough 18th hole and now he has the chance to make history for himself at Merion. Mickelson would make it the first wire to wire winner since back when McIlroy did it a few years ago and he can put some of his own tough memories behind him with the victory and he hasn't had a lead after this many holes since back in 2006. Mickelson has finished in second more times than anyone else and he is playing much better than Woods, who hit seven bogeys and one birdie or less for the first time in his career and he will need a miracle to get close to the top of the leaderboard on Sunday. A win for Mickelson would be a long time coming and if he can hang on it would be a great addition to a career and a big year that saw him win once and leave before the start of the tournament to see his daughter's graduation. Woods will be looking to get his play together heading into the next stage of the schedule and Mickelson will play it safely on Sunday to try and get the championship.
1 1 Phil Mickelson -1 - 3:20 PM 67 72 70 - 209
T2 2 Charl Schwartzel E - 3:09 PM 70 71 69 - 210
T2 2 Hunter Mahan E - 3:20 PM 72 69 69 - 210
T2 2 Steve Stricker E - 3:09 PM 71 69 70 - 210
T5 5 Justin Rose +1 - 2:58 PM 71 69 71 - 211
T5 5 Billy Horschel +1 - 2:47 PM 72 67 72 - 211
T5 5 Luke Donald +1 - 2:58 PM 68 72 71 - 211