Phil once again failed to win the title he craves most, and there's only one word for that

"Every time I think outside of United States," Phil Mickelson said, "I think of heartbreak." And your B.S. alarm went off, because the real heartbreak is a consequence of mourning, unrequited love or scandal. Finishing second in the US Open for the sixth time, as Mickelson did Sunday, the better it is categorized as a "disappointment".

But the sport is different from the life. In sports, arsenal champions and also-rans depressed, but second place gets roasted on the grill of public accountability. Ask the coach of each team that lost the championship game. Ask the quarterback of Super Bowl loser. Ask LeBron James.

We have a winner-take-all. Not literally-Mickelson collected about $ 700,000 for her heartbreak at Merion-but certainly atavistic level. How else to explain the despair by Tom Watson on his missed putt on the 72nd hole at Turnberry in 2009? If his putt rolls true, Watson 59-year-old won a record-tying sixth British Open and merges the gods on Mount Olympus. If it wobbles off to the left, he's just a pathetic old man who almost did something great.

Too hard? For sure. But that is how it seemed the self reproaching Watson, namely as it looked to Mickelson Sunday evening, when the wound is still fresh. "This is probably the toughest for me," he said, "because at 43 and coming so close five times, would change the look at the tournament as a whole and the way he looked at my records."

But that is the source of heartbreak by Mickelson-the way of looking at records. This year's champion, Justin Rose, has two top 10s in the u.s. Open, but has missed the cut in half of his open appearances and also failed to qualify seven times since he turned Pro in 1998. Mickelson, on the other hand, was low amateur in his first two attempts (1990 and 91), was cut only twice (1992, 2007) and has racked up 11 top-10s in 22 US Open starts.* too bad lead on goals from year to year; Mickelson could win the Decade.

* Tiger Woods, if you were wondering, he "only" eight top-10s in the U.s. Open, and finished 10 shots behind Mickelson on Sunday. But Woods has three victories.

As it is, there is an argument to be made for Lefty as the best US Open player of his generation. "I love the way he plays the game," Rose said after his victory. "He plays golf without fear. He keeps everyone guessing. He is funny. And I feel lucky to be able to beat a world-class player like a day like today ". Mike Davis, the USGA's feelings echo Squad, saying: "Phil has been fantastic, and to be a racer, six times the National Open Championship, is not only a record, but it"

And that is where he left Davis. Mickelson, if asked to finish the thought, might have said, "but it's empty." But Phil was already on his way home, his birthday and father's day spoiled because he had failed, but once again, to win the title he covets more than any other: US Open champion.

Heartbreaking? Yes, maybe.

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Thornton WINS Najeti Hotel opened in the playoffs, edging Van der Walt by title

Simon Thornton of Ireland beat Tjaart Van der Walt on the first hole of a playoff to Open Hotels win Najeti his first European title Sunday. Both players shot 1-under 70 in the final round, each parring the last six holes to finish at 5-under 279. In the playoffs, Van der Walt of South Africa bogeyed No. 18 while Thornton did a short par putt to win the title.

LeaderboardGolf NAJETI Hotels OPEN US Open on TVWhat's in bagsWeek worth of winners of derby winning putter tweetsWho equipment?Who's winning the derby putter?Photos: Top 10 shotsPhotos: Golf equipment around the recapFriday recapSaturday recapSunday worldThursday recap. Seve Benson of England shot 70 to finish third, a shot back. Englishman Robert Dinwiddie was fourth after shooting 70 to total 282-one stroke clear of compatriot Chris Lloyd and Sweden's Pelle Edberg.

"I worked hard on my short game for a couple of years now so I am delighted," Thornton said. "I changed my putter and my technique by placing last week too, so that everyone has come together this week." Thornton tied for 11 at this tournament last year. His only other top-10 European tour finals was finishing ninth at the BMW International Open in Munich in 2010.

The Irishman tears dedicated victory to the deceased father. "It's so great to me," said Thornton. "Father's day, too. He disappeared three years ago and it still hurts. But today they are happy tears. This is dedicated to him. Thornton, Van der Walt and French Baptiste Chapellan went into the final round with a share of the lead. But Chapellan fell out of contention after making six bogeymen in a 77.

Van der Walt and Thornton swapped the lead on the front nine before Benson joined the hunt for the title on the back nine. Thornton Birdie on the 10th to move a stroke clear Van der Walt. But the South African rallied picking up a shot on the 12th. Benson hit two straight birdies to draw level at the top of the leaderboard but faded when he bogeyed the 16TH. "It's really disappointing to get so close and not finish it," said Van der Walt, a finalist at the Africa Open last year.

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Kuchar Could Smile His Way to Open Title

Matt Kuchar never expected to be the next Tiger Woods, mostly because even then he knew it wasn't possible. Winning the U.S. Amateur a year after Woods recorded his third straight amateur title got him into the 1998 Open, but it would be a long time before the two were in the same conversation again.

"I was never thinking because I won the amateur the year after Tiger that I was the next Tiger Woods," Kuchar said. "That was never something that I thought about or thought I was going to follow the same path as Tiger. I knew I had a different path that was for me."

That path was rocky at times, but Kuchar never lost faith in his talent. He rebuilt his swing, found his way back on the PGA Tour after a brief hiccup, and started contending in tournaments.

Now he's in another conversation this week at Merion Golf Club. He's joined a select few as perhaps the best player who hasn't won a major championship.

"I don't know that I'm quite in that talk yet," Kuchar said Wednesday. "I know that a lot of people have been yelling out that they have got me in their pools and they're picking me this week. But we hear a lot of that talk every week."

Perhaps Kuchar should start listening more. Coming off a win two weeks ago at Memorial — where his young son got a high five from host Jack Nicklaus when Kuchar won — he's high on a lot of lists as a possible winner at this Open.

That he's not shying away from the talk says something about how confident he is about his game.

"I feel like I'm playing some good golf," Kuchar said. "I'm looking to continue to play good golf. Certainly a major championship, a U.S. Open, is one I'm geared up for. I'm looking forward to competing and trying to put my name on this trophy."

Kuchar was still an amateur when he played his first U.S. Open at Olympic Club in San Francisco in 1998. His father — who drew some criticism for his exuberance — was carrying his bag and on Sunday it was both Father's Day and the golfer's 20th birthday

Fans sang Happy Birthday to him and yelled "Happy Father's Day" to his father as they walked to tees, but the real highlight was a 14th place finish. It paid no money but showed Kuchar that he could compete with players a level above him.

Three years later he was a regular on the PGA Tour, making $500,000 in his rookie year. The next year he won the Honda Classic, giving him a two-year exemption on tour and marking him as one of the rising stars of the game.

Then it all started to fall apart. Kuchar began missing cuts with regularity, finally ending up in golf's minor leagues — what was then the Nationwide Tour — while he retooled his game and tried to find a swing that worked as well as the swings of players who were on the big circuit.

"I think that out here there was a definite learning curve on the PGA Tour of just being comfortable standing on the range, hitting balls next to Ernie Els or Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson and not just being in awe," 'Kuchar said. "And trying to say, 'Well, I can't hit it like that, what do I need to do to hit it like that?' "

He was a tennis player who took up golf when his mother upgraded their membership at a country club as a Christmas present. Playing better was never an issue since he quickly became one of the top — and finally THE top — amateur in the country.

Coming back on tour in 2007 he played well enough to keep his card, though barely. The next year he won $1.5 million, and the next year cracked the top 25.

Kuchar has already won twice this year, at the Match Play Championship and the Memorial, his sixth career win. He's moved to No. 4 in the world golf rankings, and hasn't missed a cut all year while averaging 69.84 strokes a round.

He's a ball striker who rarely makes mistakes, and a putter who excels on fast greens, a combination that has oddsmakers and fans lining the fairways at Merion thinking he has a good shot to win his first major this week.

"I think (the) great thing about the game of golf is there's no clear-cut favorites," Kuchar said.

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