U.S. Open career-defining for Mickelson

Minutes from matching Tiger Woods' master achievement, Phil Mickelson instead made a case that he's the Arnold Palmer of this generation. His 18th hole meltdown matched the best of Arnie's late-tournament blowups. Palmer is a better comparison than Greg Norman, who had several majors snatched from him by miracle shots.

Still, Mickelson's near miss bumped him up a couple more spots in golf's ultimate playday. Here's the all-time top 72 players in major championship history, according to my rankings.

1st tee
Jack Nicklaus, United States, 1959-1998, 858.59
Tiger Woods, United States, 1994-2006, 625.08
Ben Hogan, United States, 1939-1967, 583.95
Walter Hagen, United States, 1913-1940, 517.29

2nd tee
Arnold Palmer, United States, 1954-1977, 515.33
Tom Watson, United States, 1974-2000, 493.36
Gary Player, South Africa, 1956-1984, 477.43
Bobby Jones, United States, 1919-1930, 477.25

3rd tee
Sam Snead, United States, 1937-1974, 464.41
Gene Sarazen, United States, 1921-1956, 458.63
Nick Faldo, England, 1978-2003, 401.50
Byron Nelson, United States, 1935-1955, 367.54

4th tee
Harry Vardon, England, 1894-1922, 351.50
J.H. Taylor, England, 1893-1925, 348.75
Lee Trevino, United States, 1967-1986, 334.54
Seve Ballesteros, Spain, 1976-1991, 321.08

5th tee
Phil Mickelson, United States, 1990-2006, 317.81
Greg Norman, Australia, 1979-1999, 316.82
Raymond Floyd, United States, 1965-1994, 309.32
James Braid, Scotland, 1894-1914, 301.63

6th tee
Jim Barnes, Eng/U.S., 1913-1930, 301.11
Ernie Els, South Africa, 1992-2004, 285.40
Peter Thomson, Australia, 1951-1971, 277.10
Nick Price, Zimbabwe, 1982-2005, 267.98

7th tee
Jimmy Demaret, United States, 1938-1962, 263.44
Bobby Locke, South Africa, 1936-1957, 259.75
Julius Boros, United States, 1950-1973, 252.92
Cary Middlecoff, United States, 1948-1959, 252.50

8th tee
Craig Wood, United States, 1929-1944, 251.94
Billy Casper, United States, 1958-1976, 251.21
Ben Crenshaw, United States, 1972-1995, 243.52
Hale Irwin, United States, 1973-1993, 243.38

9th tee
Ralph Guldahl, United States, 1933-1941, 237.13
Leo Diegel, United States, 1920-1933, 235.56
Willie Anderson Jr., Scot/U.S., 1898-1908, 223.50
Vijay Singh, Fiji, 1993-2006, 223.00

10th tee
Tom Weiskopf, United States, 1969-1982, 222.43
Lloyd Mangrum, United States, 1940-1956, 221.60
Harold Hilton, England, 1892-1913, 221.50
Johnny Miller, United States, 1966-1985, 221.38

11th tee
Paul Runyan, United States, 1931-1951, 221.13
Denny Shute, United States, 1928-1950, 219.25
Payne Stewart, United States, 1985-1999, 216.50
Henry Cotton, England, 1927-1958, 210.92

12th tee
Jock Hutchison, Scot/U.S., 1908-1928, 210.25
Bernhard Langer, Germany, 1981-2005, 209.58
Ted Ray, England, 1902-1925, 204.88
Tommy Armour, Scot/US, 1925-1937, 202.63

13th tee
Horton Smith, United States, 1928-1954, 198.31
Alex Smith, Scot/US, 1898-1921, 193.69
Henry Picard, United States, 1932-1950, 192.44
Hubert Green, United States, 1974-1989, 190.00

14th tee
Mark O'Meara, United States, 1979-2003, 188.70
Tom Kite, United States, 1970-2001, 187.94
Fred Couples, United States, 1980-2006, 187.70
Lawson Little, United States, 1934-1951, 187.33

15th tee
Jose Maria Olazabul, Spain, 1984-2006, 187.10
Lanny Wadkins, United States, 1970-1993, 185.50
Gene Littler, United States, 1953-1979, 184.00
Davis Love III, United States, 1995-2005, 177.89

16th tee
Jim Ferrier, Aus/U.S., 1936-1964, 176.50
Larry Nelson, United States, 1979-1991, 173.75
Johnny Farrell, United States, 1922-1937, 170.46
Curtis Strange, United States, 1980-1995, 170.17

17th tee
Jack Burke Jr., United States, 1951-1965, 169.95
Harry Cooper, Eng/U.S., 1923-1942, 169.50
Doug Ford, United States, 1955-1962, 168.50
Tommy Bolt, United States, 1952-1971, 166.63

18th tee
Tony Jacklin, England, 1967-1972, 164.50
David Graham, Australia, 1975-1990, 163.70
Sandy Herd, Scotland, 1892-1927, 163.31
Charles Evans Jr., United States, 1909-1927, 162.67