BOMBS AND BIRDIES: Can Lefty repeat at the U.S. Open?

Jun. 14—Welcome to the week of the 121st U.S. Open, the third major of the year, and it's sure to be a special one at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Deigo.

We welcome the qualifiers back and, in my opinion, will be the first U.S. Open since 2019. Not to take anything away from Bryson DeChambeau winning last year, but I don't think it was a proper U.S. Open without the qualifiers there.

After such an incredible PGA Championship, the expectations — at least for me — are at an all-time high. So I wanted to do this column to get the golf brains around the Golden Isles going.

Can 50, soon to be 51 year old on June 17, Phil Mickelson get the job done again? It would be a great bet to make, just in case he does.

I think some people out there believe he can do it, but I also think some people think he's still "hungover" from the PGA Championship win.

Regardless, I hope we see Phil contend and get the career grand slam he's been hunting for years.

If he plays anything as he did at Kiawah Island, Lefty will shock the world. I mean, we need another performance like that in the golf world right now. There are no true dominant players out there, and it's fantastic to see different winners each week, but I want some dominance.

Defending champion DeChambeau will 100% be looking to win again to put more of a mark on his unique style of play. However, with this "feud" going on, I don't know how distracted he is.

It's going to be interesting to see his bombs on Torrey Pines. Regardless if you like him or not, he brings people to the game, and that's what matters. However, I kind of hope that he somehow gets paired with Wilco Nienaber from South Africa becuase he can smoke one off the tee and give DeChambeau a run for his money.

This field is one stout one, and I'm excited to see another major. After the first two, I hope it lives up to the amazing golf we've seen so far at Augusta and Kiawah.

On Thursday, I'll provide my five picks and more on the U.S. Open, but for this one, I wanted to keep it about Lefty and him possibly making history yet again. I don't think he got enough credit for winning the PGA Championship, so I hope he wins the U.S. Open, which should spark some kind of conversation about him.

He deserves some press after what he did, and if he does it again, the golf media needs to keep him as the discussion.

Lefty is changing the game and showing that the older guys still have it in the tank if they can have everything going for them that week.

I hope Lefty makes it happen this week — I genuinely do.

The golfers in the field from the Golden Isles are Harris English, Brian Harman, Zach Johnson, Matt Kuchar and J.T. Poston.

English was in the hunt this past week, but fell short as he didn't finish well. Maybe he can put it all together this week.

Brooks Koepka returns to the field after missing the cut in South Carolina, and I'm really excited about seeing amateur Spencer Ralston from the University of Georgia play. He was one of the guys to qualify along with Poston, so I'm beyond excited to see him on the big staage.

It's going to be a jammed pack week of golf, and I cannot wait to see who the third major winner will be. I'm hoping it's Lefty, but regardless, it's going to be a true U.S. Open winner with the qualifiers back in the field.