Koepka: There was no fight with DJ

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. — Phil Mickelson has delivered so many thrills and spills over 30 years of pure theater that no one ever knows what he will do next. RELATED: Ben Cook wins low club professional at PGA Championship | Final leaderboard His latest act was a real stunner: A major champion at age 50. Mickelson captured his sixth major and by far the most surprising Sunday at the PGA Championship. He made two early birdies with that magical wedge game and let a cast of contenders fall too far behind to catch him in the shifting wind of Kiawah Island. He closed with a 1-over 73, building a five-shot lead on the back nine and not making any critical mistakes that kept him from his place in history. Julius Boros for 53 years held the distinction of golf’s oldest major champion. He was 48 when he won the 1968 PGA Championship in San Antonio. Pure chaos broke out along the 18th hole after Mickelson hit 9-iron safely to just outside 15 feet that all but secured a most improbable victory. Thousands of fans engulfed him down the fairway — a scene typically seen only at the Open Championship — until Mickelson emerged into view with a thumbs-up. Chants of “Lefty! Lefty! Lefty!” chased him onto the green and into the scoring tent, his final duty of a week he won’t soon forget. Three months after 43-year-old Tom Brady won a seventh Super Bowl, Mickelson added to this year of ageless wonders. Mickelson became the first player in PGA TOUR history to win tournaments 30 years apart. The first of his 45 titles was in 1991 when he was still a junior at Arizona State. Mickelson became the 10th player to win majors in three decades, an elite list that starts with Harry Vardon and was most recently achieved by Tiger Woods. “He’s been on TOUR as long as I’ve been alive,” Jon Rahm said. “For him to keep that willingness to play and compete and practice, it’s truly admirable.” Brooks Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen had their chances, but only briefly. Koepka was 4 over on the par 5s when the game was still on and closed with a 74. Oosthuizen hit into the water as he was trying to make a final run and shot 73. Mickelson finished at 6-under 282. The victory came one week after Mickelson accepted a special exemption into the U.S. Open because at No. 115 in the world and winless the last two years, he no longer was exempt from qualifying. He had not finished in the top 20 in his last 17 tournaments over nearly nine months. He worried that he was no longer able to keep his focus over 18 holes. The PGA Championship had the largest and loudest crowd since the return from the COVID-19 pandemic — the PGA of America said it limited tickets to 10,000 — and it was clear what they wanted to see. The opening hour made it seem as though the final day could belong to anyone. The wind finished its switch to the opposite direction from the opening rounds, and while there was low scoring early, Mickelson and Koepka traded brilliance and blunder. Koepka flew the green with a wedge on the par-5 second hole, could only chip it about 6 feet to get out of an impossible lie and made double bogey, a three-shot swing when Mickelson hit a deft pitch from thick grass behind the green. Mickelson holed a sand shot from short of the green on the par-5 third, only for Koepka to tie for the lead with a two-shot swing on the sixth hole when he made birdie and Lefty missed the green well to the right. Kevin Streelman briefly had a share of the lead. Louis Oosthuizen was lurking, even though it took him seven holes to make a birdie. And then the potential for any drama was sucked out to sea. Oosthuizen, coming off a birdie to get within three, had to lay up out of the thick grass on the 13th and then sent his third shot right of the flag and into the water, making double bogey. Just like that, Mickelson was up by five and headed toward the inward holes, the wind at his back on the way home with what seemed like the entire state of South Carolina at his side.

Click here to read the full article…

TORONTO, Ont. – At the RBC Canadian Open media day in May, tournament organizers said their only wish for the event’s first playing since 2019 was for Mother Nature to cooperate. They got that – Sunday’s predicted storms blew through with minimal impact – and lots more. RELATED: What’s in McIlroy’s bag? Propelled by rabid fan support throughout the week, Rory McIlroy successfully defended his 2019 title with a final-round, 8-under 62 at St. George’s G&CC and 19-under total. He topped Tony Finau by two shots and Justin Thomas, who was in the final trio with Finau and McIlroy, by four. “It feels really good,” said McIlroy. “For the Canadian Open, a national championship, to have a week like it’s had, three of the best players in the world going at it down the stretch, trying to win in front of those crowds and that atmosphere … it doesn’t get much better than that.” The victory marked McIlroy’s 21st TOUR title and his first successful title defense. In the process, he became the first TOUR pro to defend his title at two different courses (Jim Furyk was the last, winning the RBC Canadian Open in 2006 and 2007). In 2019, McIlroy carded a final-round 61 at Hamilton Golf and Country Club, and he was trending towards another low finisher right out of the gate on Sunday. He shot a 5-under 29 for his first nine holes, and he then made birdie on Nos 10-12. The two-time FedExCup champion said his fast start was key to finding the winner’s circle this week. He birdied the first hole of the day and his approach on the par-4 fourth, he said, was the best shot he hit all day, even though he chipped in for birdie just two holes later. “After that I just went on this run, and once you see a few birdies go in early, all you’re thinking about is making more,” said McIlroy. “And I just got a little bit of momentum on my side and sort of carried that through the rest of the front nine and obviously into the start of the back nine as well.” McIlroy closed with birdies on the final two holes as well. For his 72nd-hole effort, the ropes were dropped and the Canadian faithful showed McIlroy plenty of love. “I mean the fans here this week have just been absolutely unbelievable,” said McIlroy. “Like so good and so cool to play in an atmosphere like that. Boisterous, loud, but respectful. It was really, really cool. That’s as top-notch as you’re going to get. “It was a pleasure to be a part of and I’ll look back on this week and this, especially today, with very, very fond memories.” McIlroy’s 62 tied the lowest final round by a winner on TOUR this season. And he did it with a fill-in caddie. Longtime friend Niall O’Connor took the bag with Harry Diamond, McIlroy’s usual looper, at home for the birth of his second child. O’Connor caddied for McIlroy once before, at the 2019 DP World Tour Championship, where they finished fourth. Add that to a first-place result this week and McIlroy was chuffed with his pal’s performance. “Any time that he needs to fill in for Harry, I’m feeling pretty confident about that,” said McIlroy with a smile. Given O’Connor was just a fill-in this week, it forced McIlroy to do some of the heavy lifting on his own, no pun intended, when it came to dialing in his yardages. He said he doesn’t usually pace out his yardages or write down notes in his book. McIlroy admitted he’s “gotten away” from that and relies on Diamond for most of those numbers. Turns out the change was beneficial. “(Thomas) and I were having lunch beforehand today and I was like, I had my head in my book a lot more today and was really into my shots and into my golf,” said McIlroy. “Honestly, I think that helped.” Three years go by, the world changes, but as far as the RBC Canadian Open champion, history – much to the happiness of tournament organizers and Canadian golf fans – repeated itself this week. “I think it had all the ingredients,” said McIlroy. “It had the golf course. It had the cast of players that you would want to be up there. It had the caliber of golf. And it had the atmosphere. You had everything this week to have a really top-class golf event. As I said, being a part of it, it doesn’t get much better than that.” McIlroy wasn’t the only winner this week, as Corey Conners claimed his first Rivermead Cup as low Canadian. He finished at 12 under and was sixth – his third top-10 finish of the season. “Obviously there’s another trophy that we’re all out here playing for, so hopefully someday can get my name on that one as well,” said Conners, “but it feels really special.”

Click here to read the full article…

Click here to read the full article…