Emergency 9: Quicken Loans National, Round 4

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KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – A year ago, at the 102nd PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park, Phil Mickelson didn’t contend but made his way to the CBS broadcast booth, where he traded zingers with Nick Faldo and Jim Nantz. He got off a few good lines. Everyone had fun. In between then and now, Mickelson won twice on PGA TOUR Champions; lost weight; sold some Coffee for Wellness; partnered with Tom Brady in The Match 2: Champions for Charity, when the world was desperate for live sports amid the paralyzing opening months of the pandemic. Always, he entertained, even if his golf game had cooled. Now, though, he has made history. Mickelson, 50, held his nerve, kept his focus, and counter-punched a brutally difficult Ocean Course to a draw Sunday, shooting a final-round 73 to win the PGA Championship. Louis Oosthuizen (73) and Brooks Koepka (74) finished second, two back at 4 under par. The biggest question mark by the 18th hole was whether Mickelson would be able to part the sea of people who closed in after his 9-iron approach stopped 16 feet from the pin, all but ending it. He two-putted for par and hugged his caddie/brother Tim as a euphoric Kiawah erupted. Mickelson becomes the oldest men’s major winner, besting Julius Boros, who was 48 at the 1968 PGA. It was the lefthander’s second PGA title (2005); sixth major (and first since the 2013 Open); and 45th PGA TOUR victory (first since the 2019 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am). Koepka took the lead after a two-shot swing at the first hole, but Mickelson took it right back with a birdie at the par-5 second, which Koepka double-bogeyed. It was that kind of day. Although he made three front-nine bogeys, Mickelson kept bouncing back with birdies, none bigger than his hole-out from the sand at the par-3 fifth hole as the pro-Phil crowd went wild. He birdied the par-5 seventh, and the par-4 10th hole. And after making nervous looking bogeys on 13 and 14, he hit a 366-yard drive and made another birdie at the downwind, par-5 16th hole. By then he had a three-shot lead, and it was all about avoiding the big mistake coming home. At 115th in the world, 168th in the FedExCup, he came into this week as a massive longshot. Still, there were early signs that something special was brewing, and it wasn’t coffee. Those who played practice rounds with him, like Steve Stricker and Jon Rahm, could see that he was playing great. Mickelson birdied the first three holes in a match that pitted him and fellow PGA TOUR Champions pro Stricker against Zach Johnson and Will Zalatoris. The old guys won. But playing well on Tuesday and Wednesday doesn’t always mean much. “His enthusiasm is what keeps him going,” said Rahm (68, 1 under), a friend who played for Tim Mickelson at Arizona State. “At his age, has the same enthusiasm I have at 26, and he’s been doing this a very long time. I mean, he’s been on TOUR as long as I’ve been alive.” The competition has kept him going, too. Padraig Harrington (69, 2 under), who believes older players do better under pressure, when their minds can’t drift, played with Mickelson the first two rounds at Kiawah and had a sense he might not fade on the weekend. “I’d say Phil is full to capacity, but that’s where he likes to live,” said Harrington, 49. Others could only shake their head in wonder. “I’ve just obviously watched him on TV growing up,” said 24-year-old lefty Robert MacIntyre (73, 5 over). “I mean, I’ve watched him do everything in golf. That’s the reason I pushed myself to get to where I am now was watching him. What he’s doing this week is incredible.” Older players had flirted with winning majors. Jack Nicklaus was 58 when he contended deep into Sunday at the 1998 Masters. Tom Watson was 59 when he nearly won the 2009 Open Championship. Fred Couples was 52 when he led after round two of the 2012 Masters. None of them won. With just two victories in the last seven years, Mickelson admitted his mental game wasn’t what it was. He has tried dietary changes, meditation, and marathon sessions of 36 to 45 holes a day. Now, though, it’s all clicking again for one of the most entertaining players of the last quarter century. Phil Mickelson, all 50 years of him, is a major champion again.

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Tiger Woods feels a special energy around the Old Course at St. Andrews. He has referred to it throughout his career as his favorite course in the world. He has won two Open Championships there. This summer, he has made the 150th Open Championship at St. Andrews his priority. Woods traveled to Europe a week early for this week’s JP McManus Pro-Am at Adare Manor GC in Ireland, and he said Tuesday that his decision to not compete at last month’s U.S. Open was made with an eye ahead. “I had some issues with my leg, and it would have put this tournament in jeopardy, and so there’s no reason to do that,” Woods told reporters Tuesday. “This is a pretty historic Open that we are going to be playing. I’m lucky enough to be part of the past champions that have won there, and want to play there again, and I don’t know when they are ever going to go back while I’m still able to play at a high level. “I want to be able to give it at least one more run at a high level.” Woods has competed in five previous Open Championships at St. Andrews. His eight-stroke victory in 2000 was his second of four consecutive major titles in what is known as the “Tiger Slam.” His two-stroke victory at St. Andrews in 2005 was his second of three Open Championship titles; he also won in 2006 at Royal Liverpool. Woods’ first Open Championship appearance came in 1995 at St. Andrews. He made the cut as an amateur and finished T68. He finished T23 at St. Andrews in 2010 and missed the cut in 2015. “I’ve always loved this golf course, from the first time I played it back in ’95,” Woods said at the 2015 Open at St. Andrews. “I just love the creativity. You have to be able to hit all different types of shots. You need to have the right angles. Over the years of learning how to play the golf course under all different types of wind conditions, it changes greatly, and it’s based on angles. You have to put the ball on certain sides of the fairways in order to get the ball close. “To me, that type of thinking and the strategy that goes into that is something I’ve always loved.” After suffering severe injuries to both legs in a single-car accident in February 2021, Woods made his competitive return at this year’s Masters, making the cut and finishing solo 47th. He also made the cut at the PGA Championship in May but withdrew after a third-round 79; he had cited leg soreness after the round. Woods considered competing at last month’s U.S. Open at Brookline but withdrew prior to the tournament. He tweeted the week prior to the event that his body needed more time to get stronger for major championship golf. He flew to Ireland for this week’s two-day JP McManus Pro-Am, held Monday and Tuesday, and he plans to spend time practicing off-site before traveling to St. Andrews. “If you asked me last year whether I would play golf again, all of my surgeons would have said no,” Woods said Tuesday. “But here I am playing two major championships this year. I will always be able to play golf, whether it’s this leg or someone else’s leg or false leg or different body pieces that have been placed or fused. I’ll always be able to play.” For the chance to play next week at St. Andrews, he is very grateful.

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