Phil Mickelson: US Open venue Oakmont is toughest course I've played

ByReuters

Updated 09/06/2016 at 07:39 GMT

Five-times major champion Phil Mickelson has declared the Oakmont Country Club, the venue for next week's US Open, as the toughest golf course he has ever played.

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Image credit: AFP

"I played Oakmont the last two days. It truly is, I think, the hardest golf course we've ever played," Mickelson told reporters in Memphis ahead of the FedEX St. Jude Classic.

"They let the rough grow long -- if it's wet they'll leave it like that, if it's dry they'll thin it out because less balls will hit the fairway."

Oakmont is known as a stern test that balloons scores.

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The last time it hosted a US Open in 2007, Argentine Angel Cabrera won with a five-over total of 285.

Mickelson, 45, will bid for his maiden U.S. Open trophy after finishing runner-up six times.

"A lot of golf courses, when it challenges you tee to green the way Oakmont does, it usually has a little bit of a reprieve on the greens," Mickelson said.

"(But) you really don't at Oakmont, they are some of the most undulating, fast, difficult greens to putt."

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