Phil Mickelson is regarded as one of the best professional golfers of all time, but a career Grand Slam has escaped him. With Mickelson missing the cut at the 2025 U.S. Open—the last remaining major for a Grand Slam—he will go at least another year without it.
And in fact, we may have witnessed his final chance at pulling it off when he missed the cut Friday. If nothing else, the future of his presence at the event is uncertain moving forward.
The U.S. Open has two main paths for qualification: Amateurs or professionals with a 0.4 handicap index or better can enter a qualifying event and theoretically make it all the way into the event. Otherwise, the top pros generally qualify by winning majors or combinations of events, earning them automatic entries for a number of years depending on the event or win, or by ranking within a certain threshold in various rankings leaderboards.
For Mickelson, his five-year automatic entry from winning the 2021 PGA Championship expired this year. That means he has limited paths in, mainly: He can go through qualifying, he can rank top-three in LIV Golf as of the cutoff date next year, or he can get a USGA exemption.
His contract with LIV is up after this year, and it's not a certainty that he will return or that he will play well enough to get into the top three if he does.
A tougher way in with this year's play? He can win this year's Open Championship, which he has qualified for.
What Has USGA Said About Special Exemption for Phil Mickelson at 2026 U.S. Open?
The easiest way in here on out for Mickelson would be an exemption from the USGA. Its stance on an exemption has been uncertain.
“Phil did receive [an exemption] in 2021,” USGA chief championship officer John 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.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Phil Mickelson’s U.S. Open: The Rule Causing Speculation About His Future at the Major.
