PINEHURST, N.C. – No one expected Phil Mickelson to win last years British Open championship. Its not the style of course or game that has favoured the lefthander. Yet win he did. By contrast, everyone is expecting Mickelson to win this week, in the championship he wants to win more than any other and has broken his heart six times. Golf fair? Golf understandable? Not when it involves Lefty. Here at Pinehurst, Mickelson will try one more time to not only break through and win the tournament he wants most, but also to join that exclusive club of career grand slam winners that has just five members. "Its a career goal of mine to win all four majors," Mickelson admitted. "I feel like the five players that have done that, have separated themselves from the other players throughout all time. It shows that they have a complete game. If Im able to do that, I feel that I would look upon my own career differently." It wasnt that long ago that Mickelson had no majors and everyone wondered if hed ever get his first. And certainly last year, very few were predicting hed win the Open Championship. Now hes on the edge of greatness, but that edge is a wide chasm he must get across. For the first time since 2003, Mickelson comes into the Open without a victory. Worse than that, he hasnt even managed a top-10 finish. Still, he remains relatively optimistic. "I feel as good about my game today as I have all year," he stated. "Its not saying a lot, because I havent played well all year, but last week was a good week for me. I started to slowly put it together." Last week was a tie for 11th spot at the FedEx St. Jude Classic, and a far cry from what he wants here. The weak link in his game this year has clearly been his putting. Hes ranked 103rd in Strokes Gained –Putting. A year ago, he finished the year in sixth. Things have gone so poorly on the greens that this week, Mickelson has decided to change things up after conferring with putting coach Dave Stockton. "The greens here are quick," Mickelson stated, "and so Im actually going to go back to the claw grip this week in an effort to have a little bit lighter grip pressure and create a softer roll so that I get some of the hit out of it. I was running them way by last week and by taking my bottom hand off the putter, it eliminates some that hit." Of course it wouldnt be a major if Phil wasnt taking some sort of risk. Two drivers. No drivers. Phrankenwood. Driver when he should hit three-wood. Sometimes the moves pay off, other times he slaps his head and scolds himself. And he waits for another year, another chance. After six silver medals, Mickelson says he tries not to look at what might be possible, what it would be like to raise the trophy he wants more than any other on Sunday evening. He knows the disappointment too well. But he is, after all, only human. "I try not to, because I dont want to get ahead of myself," he said. "But its only natural that its going to. Occasionally Ill catch myself, but I really try not to, because I really just want to focus on what I need to do to get ready for Thursday. If I can do that, hopefully Ill give myself a chance on the weekend. But when I jump ahead, that never really works out good, at least in the past . . . six times." This will be Mickelsons 24th attempt at winning the U.S. Open and he believes it may be his best. Of course he said something like that last year, too. And the year before. If nothing else, Phil is the eternal optimist. But this course might just prove him right. Pinehurst No. 2 is tailored to a game such as Phils – or at least Phils when hes on. He proved that back in 1999 although the last time around, in 2005, he was a non-factor in a tie for 33rd. "This place is awesome," he gushed. "It is just a wonderful site. This is the first -- well I really believe that this week is testing a players entire game. Because it forces you to make decisions, make good decisions, to choose the right club off the tee, hit solid iron shots into the green, and utilize your short game to save strokes. Theres no luck involved with the hack-it-out rough that sometimes we have around the greens. Its just a wonderful test that is, I think, the best test Ive seen to identify the best player." Whether Mickelson can be the best player this week is the question a lot of people are asking. Its also a question hes asking himself. And one hes hoping he can finally answer. Rick Kehoe Jersey . Formula One Teams Association secretary general Oliver Weingarten says the organization collapsed over unpaid subscription fees and a failure to strike an agreement for 2014 with all 11 teams. Jean Pronovost Jersey . 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Andy Bathgate Jersey . -- Caris LeVert had 14 points and a career-high 11 rebounds for his first career double-double, and No.NEW YORK -- Dirk Nowitzki called it "probably the ugliest game-winner I ever shot," and this is how he described it. "Basically it hit the board, every part of the rim, hit Jerry West over there (the logo on the backboard), came back over and it was definitely an ugly, ugly shot," he said. But when the 19-foot jumper bounced up and then fell in as time expired, the Dallas Mavericks had a 110-108 victory over the New York Knicks on Monday night. The Mavericks blew an eight-point lead in the final 90 seconds, then pulled out their third straight victory when Nowitzkis jumper that seemed to have missed instead fell through. "I didnt even feel like celebrating it was so ugly," Nowitzki said. His teammates and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban did it for him, rushing onto the floor after Dallas moved into seventh place in the Western Conference. Carmelo Anthony had 44 points and nine rebounds for the Knicks. He played strong defence on the Mavericks final possession, but was left standing in disbelief long after the buzzer after Nowitzkis shot appeared to hit the backboard first, then the front rim, then bounced up before dropping. "It was like a needle in a balloon right there," Anthony said. "It sucks all the air out of you. He hit a hell of a shot." Vince Carter made seven three-pointers and scored a season-high 23 points. Monta Ellis had 22 for Dallas (35-23), which has won nine of 11 and is a season-best 12 games over .500. Jose Calderon finished with 20 points for the Mavericks, who swept a three-game road trip and beat the Knicks for the 20th time in the last 25 meetings. Nowitzki had just 15 points after missing all five three-point attempts. "Thats one thing about the greatest players. I played with (Larry) Bird for three years. He took more pleasure in hitting a game-winning shot after he missed eight or nine in a row than having a great game at times," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. Tyson Chandler had 12 points and 12 rebounds against his former team, sparking the Knicks comeback after they trailed 108-100 with 1:37 left. But New York (21-36) lost for the sixth time in seven games and fell a season-worst 15 games below .500. The Knicks had blown big leads in their last two games, giving away a 14-point advantage at Orlando and a 17-point cushion at Atlanta, collapses that coach Mike Woodson called "mind-boggling.ddddddddddddquot; This one had to hurt worse. "There were games last year when our backs were against the wall and we just found a way to win," Woodson said. "This year when weve been in the situation where we needed a big stop or two we havent been able to get it done." The Mavericks seemed to have put it away when Calderon made a three-pointer, and Brandan Wright followed with a basket to stretch the late lead to eight points. But after Raymond Feltons basket, Chandler converted a three-point play, then came up with a steal to start a break that ended with Anthonys three-pointer that tied it at 108 with 50 seconds remaining. The Knicks got the ball back after a Dallas miss but committed a shot-clock violation, giving Dallas the ball for Nowitzkis winner. "We maybe shouldnt be in the situation at the end, I think six points up," Calderon said. "It was a good lead with 1:20 or something, but it was good at the end." Amare Stoudemire scored nine points in his first start since the end of the 2011-12 season for the Knicks, who had just 10 available players after waiving Metta World Peace and Beno Udrih earlier Monday following contract buyouts. The Mavericks shot 55 per cent and led 31-21 after one quarter, but the Knicks came right back and made 14 of 19 shots (74 per cent) while scoring 38 points in the second, when Anthony scored 17 points. New York erased a 14-point deficit to grab a two-point lead on Anthonys jumper with 11 seconds left, but Ellis made a three-pointer as time expired to give Dallas a 60-59 edge. Dallas had the lead back up to eight in the final minute of the third, but Anthony made three free throws, then nailed a three-pointer with 0.6 seconds remaining as the Knicks trimmed it to 84-82. NOTES: Woodson said he would talk with team president Steve Mills on Tuesday to discuss filling the teams open roster spots. He said he thought the Knicks needed a big man with Andrea Bargnani and Kenyon Martin still injured, and a guard who could defend on the perimeter. ... The crowd included U.S. Olympian Erin Hamlin, who won a bronze medal in luge, and Super Bowl-winning quarterback Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks. ' ' '