Phil Mickelson arrives, Jon Rahm gets a chipping lesson | Inside Day 3 at the U.S. Open

June 15, 2023

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Welcome to GOLF.com’s new “Seen & Heard” video series, where we’ll endeavor to give you an inside look at golf’s biggest events through the eyes and ears of our onsite crew. On deck this week: The 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club. Let’s go!

ICYMI: More questions than answers, Scottie tries a new Scotty | Inside Day 1 at the U.S. Open
Homa’s reaction, LACC’s quirks, Reggie Bush’s pick to win | Inside Day 2 at the U.S. Open

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Wednesday is crunch time at the U.S. Open — the last day of prep before the tournament officially begins on Thursday.

The crowds were out in force at LACC, eager for a look at both the spectacular course and the players on the practice-round tee sheet.

One of those players, Phil Mickelson, appeared on property for the first time on Wednesday, much to the delight of the assembled fans. Mickelson has been refraining from speaking to the media thus far this week — perhaps an indication of how seriously he’s taking this tournament, which represents his annual chance to secure the final leg of the career grand slam.

During his Wednesday round, Mickelson spent some time with practice-round companion Jon Rahm, sharing the intricacies of how to hit a chip from LACC’s difficult greenside rough.

“Someone with a filthy short game is going to do well here,” Sean Zak predicted as he watched. “Because you’re gonna miss greens. Tiny greens, big fairways. But it’s these little spots that you get up and down from that win you a major championship.”

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Everyone is excited to see how the course will play. Winning score predictions collected from a couple of caddies ranged from eight under to 11 under.

“It’s weird having to hit driver on a par-3 and 3-wood on a par-5,” said Joel Dahmen’s caddie Geno Bonnalie. “But that being said, there’s a lot of birdies out there.”

We’ll find out just how many birdies are out there on Thursday. You can catch a recap of the the GOLF crew’s highlights from the day at LACC in the video above. And make sure to tune in every day this week for more exclusive content from the 2023 U.S. Open.

Golf.com Editor

As a four-year member of Columbia’s inaugural class of female varsity golfers, Jessica can out-birdie everyone on the masthead. She can out-hustle them in the office, too, where she’s primarily responsible for producing both print and online features, and overseeing major special projects, such as GOLF’s inaugural Style Issue, which debuted in February 2018. Her original interview series, “A Round With,” debuted in November of 2015, and appeared in both in the magazine and in video form on GOLF.com.

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