Phil Mickelson: US Open Win Would Vault Lefty into Legendary Status

It's going to be a level playing field for Phil Mickelson at Olympic this weekend. He and favorite Tiger Woods (and, of course, Bubba Watson) will all be grouped together in a quest for the U.S. Open.

There will be no unfair advantages, no legs up. Let the best man win. And if it's Lefty—if he wins his first U.S. Open, adding it to his three Masters wins and his one PGA Championship—he'll officially be one of the best ever.

A win at the U.S. Open has been a long time coming for Mickelson. He's finished as the runner-up five times before, most recently in 2009, solidifying himself as one of the best golfers to never win this major. If being paired with the favorite motivates him, though—and if he shows up with the kind of determination he brought to the table at Augusta just a couple of months ago—this just might be Lefty's year.

Of being paired with Woods, who's been dubbed the 6-1 favorite to win (via Bovada), Mickelson said he couldn't be more excited, according to the Associated Press' Antonio Gonzalez: 

First of all, I get excited to play with Tiger, I love it. I think we all do. He gets the best out of me. I think when it's time to tee off on Thursday I'll be ready to play. One of the issues I've had this year [is]f I've been a little mentally lethargic on Thursday and Friday. I won't be this week. Second is the one player I'm most concerned about if I play my best golf that may have a chance to beat me is Tiger. And the fact that we are on the same wavelength, I'm always am in favor of. 

Finding a way to beat the lethargy—both mental and physical—will be key for Mickelson, considering the last time we saw him was when he was bowing out of the Memorial due to mental fatigue. After shooting a 79 in the first round, he decided it would be better to rest up in time for the U.S. Open rather than try to redeem himself in Ohio, according to the AP.

Mickelson is not the type of player to bow out of a tournament—"I feel like it's the responsibility of a player to see through your commitment and finish the tournament," he told the AP—but this is a different story. He doesn't feel bad about putting the U.S. Open first, and he shouldn't. To become one of the greatest of all time, he needs to get over the hump and finally achieve what he's been so close to getting five times before. If Jack Nicklaus' tournament was going to get in the way of that, his decision to drop out was a necessary one. 

Lefty has been able to get his head in the game in time to step onto the big stages this year. He finished fourth at the Houston Open right before placing in a tie for third at the Masters. In the last tournament he finished—the HP Byron Nelson—he registered another top 10 finish.

Mickelson is making no secret of it: He wants to win this one. It's one of the only remaining items on his checklist en route to becoming one of the greatest ever, and he can't reach that pinnacle without this win.

He's done everything to get himself mentally in shape for it; now it's just a matter of keeping his head in the game until Sunday afternoon is over.