02lefty;seeks elusive;maJor

not even sam snead, whose glorious career carries a bold asterisk because of his failure to win a u.s. open, came as close to winning america’s national championship as often as phil mickelson, who has five runner-ups to snead’s four. this is the 21st open for mickelson, who turns 41 thursday and could use a great round for a birthday present. the key to mickelson’s strong record seems to rest on what kind of start he has. in his five runner-up finishes (1999, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2009), mickelson’s first-round scores have ranged from 67 to 70, and he hasn’t been worse than seventh after 18 holes. he was upbeat in his tuesday news conference, saying he is “right on the cusp of getting my confidence back with the putter,” fond of how congressional cc is set up and now vowing to hit more drivers than 2-irons off the tee. mickelson, who planned to meet president barack obama in a wednesday visit to the white house, is trying to recall his attitude prior to winning his first major. “my thought process was not worry about the result, but to enjoy the entire tournament, enjoy the process, enjoy the challenge of trying to win,” mickelson said. “deep down i have the belief that i can come out on top, but i’m trying not to worry about the result.”—Bill Fields