Phil Mickelson wins PGA Championship at euphoric Kiawah

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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