American golfer Phil Mickelson believes he will eventually win the US Open, even though it continues to elude him and history now seems against him.
The five-time major champion has won each of the other three majors and only needs the US Open to become the sixth man to complete the modern Grand Slam.
Mickelson says he believes he will win the tournament in the next five years.
The 43-year-old has finished runner-up at the US Open on six separate occasions, including the last time it was held at Pinehurst, in 1999.
The winner that year was Payne Stewart, who was the last player to win the event in his 40s. He was 42 when he triumphed, only four months before dying in a private plane mishap.
Hale Irwin holds the record as the oldest US Open winner. He had just turned 45 when he triumphed in 1990 and Mickelson will turn 45 two days before the start of next year's Open at Chambers Bay near Seattle.
The Californian left-hander was never in contention at Pinehurst this year after putting poorly in a second round 73.
He says he had always been a long shot given his mediocre form coming into the championship, not that you would have known it by the pre-tournament media hype.
