2011 US Open Golf: Happy Birthday, Lefty, Now Go Get 'Em

"Mother, mother ocean, I have heard you call,

"Wanted to sail upon your waters since I was three feet tall...."

-- A Pirate Looks At 40 -- Jimmy Buffett

Phillip Alfred Mickelson turns 41 on Thursday.

At 1:35 p.m. that afternoon, he'll hit his opening tee shot at the 111th U.S. Open Championship and this will be the year that Lefty finally gets the job done.

Phil Mickelson is going to win. He's teased us enough. He's chased the White Whale for 20 years. He's come oh so close, starting with the first time in 1999 when Payne Stewart holed that miraculous putt at Pinehurst then embraced Mickelson afterward and told him not to fret, to rejoice in the fact that he would soon become a father.

It happened to Lefty four more times after that in 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2009.

So close yet so far.

This time, on his 21st-go-round, Lefty's gonna get it done.

Lucky 21.

He'll get it done because he understands that golf and tournaments like the U.S. Open are not a matter of life and death. Watching your wife and mother battle breast cancer puts everything into perspective.

This Phil Mickelson understands.

We love Phil Mickelson because he is not a perfect golfer. He misses fairways, he hits shots that make us ask, "what the hell was that?"

He's Phil The Thrill. He's also the last American to win a major.

Come Sunday, he'll be the next American to win a major.

He's upbeat, he's smiling. He's simply Phil being Phil.

"I feel terrific," he told us earlier this week. "I'm more flexible and stronger than I have been in a long time."

He's handling his psoriatic arthritis, it's mere child's play compared to battling cancer.

This Phil Mickelson understands.

He also understands that which has happened to him in Opens past and he's learned.

"If you focus on the result, if you focus so much on winning, sometimes you can get in your own way," says the guy who gets in his own way too often in these big events.

He's 41 now and he understands.

"It's a matter of picking your spots. I'm not going to play perfect golf. I'm not going to hit every fairway," said the Prince of Imperfect Golf.

It's why we love him. He's the life of the party and sometimes on falls flat on his face, but we still love him.

We want him on that leaderboard.

American golf needs him on that leaderboard.

There's a lot of treachery for 72 holes and Mickelson knows treachery. He's been its victim too many times.

This time, it's Lefty's turn.

He'll prevail. He'll find a way, somehow.

Phil Mickelson will look darn good hoisting that U.S. Open trophy on Sunday, Father's Day, 2011.

Go get 'em, Phil.

And Happy Birthday.