The Open Championship 2001

He started hitting balls when he was 18 months old and had a putting green in his back yard. A four-time All-American at Arizona State, he joined Jack Nicklaus in 1990 as the only players to win an NCAA title and the U.S. Amateur in the same year.

A year later, he won a PGA Tour event while still in college. In his fourth full year as a pro, he was inviting more comparisons with Nicklaus. Maybe he would be the next dominant American on tour, as soon as he bagged that first major championship.

Tiger Woods turned pro that fall.

There are no more comparisons with Nicklaus, only questions if -- not when -- Mickelson will ever win a major championship.

''After being out here for nine years, it's disappointing not to have won a major at this point,'' he said. ''I certainly thought coming out of college, after having won an event in college on tour, my expectations were that I would have not just one, but hopefully more.''

Going into the Open, which starts Thursday at Royal Lytham & St. Annes, Mickelson is 0-for-36 in the championships that define careers.

He is the best golfer to have never won a major. It's an ugly label stitched on the sleeve of a player who has won 18 times as a pro in nine full seasons on the PGA Tour and who has never finished lower than 28th on the money list.

On the way to his fourth victory of year in 1996, at the World Series of Golf, Mickelson was asked whether he was having a breakthrough year or if that could only happen by winning a major.

''I would hate to put that much emphasis on a major, although it very well could be true,'' he said at the time.

After another setback in a major -- at the U.S. Open at Southern Hills where he went into the final round just two strokes out of the lead but shot 75 -- he was less philosophical and much more defensive.

''I'm tired of beating myself up time after time,'' Mickelson said. ''If I happen to win the British Open or the PGA this year, that would be great. And it's something I'll be gung-ho for and working hard for. But if it doesn't happen, I'm tired of beating myself up.''

While everyone else seems to have him on the clock, Mickelson continues to see only opportunity.

Nine times he has finished no worse than third this year, two of them converted into victories while he let two others get away. Both majors were there for the taking.

At the Masters, he was one stroke behind Woods going into the final round -- never an ideal situation, although Mickelson had won two head-to-head battles with the world's best players in the past 14 months. He missed too many crucial putts and made just enough mistakes for a 70, finishing three strokes behind.

At the U.S. Open, he was only two strokes behind Retief Goosen and Stewart Cink, two players who had never contended in a major. The 13th hole defined Mickelson's struggles - a great drive, a poor approach into thick rough, a brilliant chip to 4 feet, and a three-putt for a bogey that sealed his doom.

Mickelson has two more chances this year and, at age 31, perhaps 40 more majors while at the top of his game.

''These next 10 years are very important to me, because I want to be looked at in a certain light,'' he said. ''If I'm able to win some majors, I can be looked on differently than as a player who has won a lot of events, but never won a major.

''I really feel as though I've been playing a little bit better, a little bit different than I have in the past. It would not surprise me to be in contention.''

What will Lytham hold? Has Mickelson had all the disappointment he can take in one year? Is he strong enough to set himself up for another chance or more failure?

''That has been a goal of mine, to become more consistent getting in contention,'' he said. ''The nice thing about that is when I head into the British Open, I don't feel as though it is a hit-or-miss thing.

''If I just play the way I have been and don't have to do anything exceptional, I'm going to have a shot on Sunday. That's a nice feeling to have.''

There's only one better feeling -- leaving the course with a major championship trophy, no longer having to answer questions about whether he can win the big one.

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