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Mickelson's grand-slam outlook bleak: 'I'm not going to win a U.S. Open'

Ross Kinnaird / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Another chance at winning the U.S. Open passed Phil Mickelson by after he finished outside the top 50 at Pebble Beach last week.

The disappointing result also marked his final chance to complete the career grand slam before he turns 50, and Mickelson is coming to terms with the fact that he may never capture the elusive win.

"I really don't have many more chances,” Mickelson said Wednesday at the Travelers Championship. "I probably have to come to the realization that I'm not going to win a U.S. Open.

"But I'm not going to stop trying. ... You never know."

Mickelson is a six-time runner-up at U.S. Opens. The tournament is the lone blemish on his otherwise immaculate resume.

Perhaps his most notable squandered opportunity was in 2006 at Winged Foot, when he led heading into the final hole but made a double-bogey to lose by one. Coincidentally, the U.S. Open returns to Winged Foot in 2020, two days after his 50th birthday.

Despite inconsistent results in 2019 - a win at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am to go along with five missed cuts - Mickelson remains confident that he can compete when everything is clicking.

"When I play well, I'm able to play at a very comparable level to what I played like at the height of my career and I'm able to pick off wins," he added. "... I'm just not having as many opportunities. That's been the hardest thing for me is having energy levels and recovering and being focused for each shot in four rounds."

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