Unhappy Mickelson misses cut

He was 11 over par after Friday’s second round of 77 and Phil Mickelson was nearly certain his weekend plans to continue to play in the U.S. Open were out the window.

“That would be pretty unbelievable if 11 over was the top half of the field,” he said. “I can’t buy that. I don’t think so.”

Well, Mickelson was right. At the end of a long and trying day at Oakmont Country Club, Mickelson was left out, when Angel Cabrera birdied the last hole to finish at even-par 140, ending the hope of anyone who had been within 10 shots of the lead.

The last U.S. Open cut Mickelson missed was in 1992 when he was an amateur.

Mickelson said before the tournament that the key holes were Nos. 7 through 10. He was six over on that stretch Friday.

“That did me in,” he said.

Mickelson once again played with his left wrist wrapped and complained afterward that the length of the rough when he practiced at Oakmont two weeks ago not only caused his injury, but it was taller rough than now.

“It’s disappointing to dream as a kid about winning the U.S. Open and spend all this time getting ready for it and have the course setup injure you,” he said.

“This really was dangerous doing what I did because the rough was twice as long and I thought they might play it like that.”

Mickelson said he had a plan how to spend his time waiting to see if he would make the cut:

“Go watch the carnage on TV.”

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Cabrera’s birdie on his final hole knocked a lot of big-name players off the cut-line, which ended up at 10 over.

Mickelson wasn’t the only one to get sent home at 11 over. Others included former PGA champion Shaun Micheel and British Open winner Justin Leonard.

Other notables missing the cut were two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen (13 over), Sergio Garcia (14 over), Rich Beem, Adam Scott and Colin Montgomerie (18 over) and Steve Elkington (23 over).

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By Jeff Brehaut’s best estimate, he has tried to qualify for the U.S. Open more than a dozen times. But he finally made it into his first U.S. Open this week, and after his second-round 75, his eight-over total made the cut.

That is a red-letter day for Brehaut, 44, of Los Altos, Calif., who had missed the cut in all six of his other PGA Tour events this year.

“Being here, playing as poorly as I have this year, making the cut in my first U.S. Open, unbelievable,” he said. “I’d love to do something heroic on the weekend.”

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Jim Furyk, who is six over after his 75, says Oakmont is tough but playing fairly ... sort of. He paused for a full 15 seconds before he answered. “Fairly is the one word that no one can really define,” he said. “So it’s playable.”

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