Mickelson, Fowler among top names at St. Jude Classic

Mickelson definitely won’t claim that first U.S. Open victory this year because he has already said he’s skipping it to attend his daughter’s high school graduation .

[...] he hopes to finally break through at TPC Southwind, where Mickelson has three top-three finishes in the past four years with no titles.

The final tuneup before the U.S. Open next week in Wisconsin brought out a tough field, with Mickelson, Rickie Fowler and Brooks Koepka here along with Adam Scott, who is playing here for the first time in a decade, and Daniel Berger, who is defending his first and only PGA Tour title .

Only 11 times has a player won a major championship the week after winning on the tour, and the last to do it was Rory McIlroy — who won the PGA Championship in 2014 after his victory at the Bridgestone Invitational.

First time’s a charm:

Players can still make it into the U.S. Open if they can crack the top 60 in the world golf ranking by the end of this tournament.

After capturing an individual NCAA championship, Braden Thornberry will play on a sponsor’s exemption.

Thornberry, a sophomore at Mississippi, claimed a four-stroke victory last week for the Rebels’ first golf title.