US Open Golf 2011 Predictions: Is This Phil Mickelson's Last Hope to Win?

The U.S. Open is one of the few championships that have eluded Phil Mickelson. But that is not because Mickelson hasn't performed well at the U.S. Open.

Mickelson has been the runner-up at the U.S. Open five times. Mickelson summed up his U.S. Open performances to reporters following the Memorial earlier this month:

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I’ve played some of my better golf in the U.S. Open. I just need a few breaks here and there, or maybe a few less mistakes here or there, to be able to come out on top.

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Mickelson enters this year's tournament with the second-lowest odds at 12-1. That leaves him trailing only Lee Westwood and ties him with world No. 1 Luke Donald.

Mickelson hasn't exactly been setting courses on fire with his recent play, but the Congressional (the site for the 2011 U.S. Open) sets up perfectly for Mickelson's game. It is a course that places an emphasis on length, which continues to be one of Phil's strengths.

It is a course that also features a lot of elevated greens. Players that get a lot of loft on their approach shots are going to have an edge on these greens, and there are few players that get more height than Phil.

If Mickelson wants to transition from a U.S. Open bridesmaid to champ, then he better put it together this year. Phil just celebrated his 40th birthday. He has some serious arthritis issues, and he has enough off-the-course interests that it is pretty easy to see that his dedication to the sport will become more sporadic as he ages.

While we have recently seen that older players like Fred Couples and Tom Watson can contend in major tournaments, that takes the planets aligning type of luck Phil cannot wait for. If he wants to win the U.S. Open, now is the time.