Photos: Presidents Cup previews

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Time will tell who winds up being the best man in Sean Powell’s wedding to Andrea Cota, which is unofficially set for the summer of 2019. Justin Thomas was best man for the proposal. “It all worked out great,â€� FedExCup leader Thomas said after one of the more unusual pro-am moments of his career. “And I’m really happy that I didn’t screw it up for him.â€� Thomas had just teed off at the par-4 opening hole at Quail Hollow Club, home of this week’s Wells Fargo Championship, when he walked to the gallery ropes and handed Powell a glove and Cota a golf ball. Powell, having choreographed everything beforehand with Thomas and officials from the PGA TOUR, knew what was up; Cota didn’t. She looked at the ball, on which Thomas had written, “Will you?â€� And she turned around to Powell, who was on one knee. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you,â€� he said. She accepted, and the highly anticipated moment, the planning for which began with Powell’s social media appeal to Thomas two months ago, had gone off without a hitch. “He sent me a direct message on Instagram and I just happened to be going through them one day and I read it,â€� Thomas said. “I said, ‘That sounds like a pretty cool thing, and it would be fun to be a part of.’â€� Thomas reached out to the TOUR to handle the details, and told Wells Fargo employee Powell to get in touch the week before the tournament. Meanwhile, Cota, a personal fitness coach, was talking to her sister, wondering aloud whether Powell might propose. She had an inkling it might be coming, but had no idea that the proposal would include Thomas. The first sign that something was up? “When he started walking over to Sean and was like, ‘Hey, how’s it going? It’s good to see you,’â€� she said. “I’m like, ‘Good to see you? How do you know him?’ I’m like, ‘What?’ And when he was like, ‘Is this Andrea?’ I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, this is happening.’â€� Powell and Cota knew one another through family and friends back in Sioux Falls, but Powell had moved to Minneapolis to begin his career. He moved back to South Dakota a year ago to be with family as his father battles Stage 4 lung cancer, and was scrolling through the dating app Bumble at the same time Cota was. As it turned out, they were more than compatible. “We went on three dates in two days,â€� Powell said. He knew he wanted to do something special for the proposal, and the wheels started turning when he attended the Waste Management Phoenix Open and saw Thomas earlier this season.   “He’s my favorite golfer,â€� Powell said, “and so I sent him a message, and five minutes later he sent a message back saying, ‘I want to help you out.’ I almost threw my phone.â€� He sent a message back saying, ‘I want to help you out.’ I almost threw my phone. Suddenly, this wacky pipe dream was real; only the specifics remained. Powell and Cota would be in Charlotte for Wells Fargo Championship week, staying with Powell’s brother. Thomas would be here, too, so Quail Hollow became the setting. But then what? A friend suggested Powell ask Thomas to toss the “proposalâ€� ball to them, but what if someone else caught it? Eventually, it was settled that Thomas would hand-deliver the glove and ball with the cameras rolling to capture everything. Bumble got wind of it and has pledged $5,000 to the honeymoon, and the happy couple toasted the happy news as they drank champagne outside the media center. Powell laughingly told Thomas he’ll gladly pay for the superstar’s plane ticket to attend the wedding. “He exemplifies what a golfer is and should be,â€� Powell said. “He’ll sign autographs. He engages with people. He engaged with me on social media; you know, he has like a half million people following him. “It’s like the lottery,â€� Powell added. “Winning the Powerball. You know what I mean?â€�

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KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – Brooks Koepka can barely bend down to get his ball from the hole. Phil Mickelson is battling father time before our eyes. While the 2012 PGA Championship at Kiawah was a celebration of youthful virtuosity (Rory McIlroy), the 2021 PGA has become a drama of the human condition. It’s about scar tissue both literal and figurative, and man’s animating quest to catch up to his younger self. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Final round: How to follow, tee times | Details on Mickelson’s new custom driver “I felt I had a very clear picture on every shot,” said two-time PGA TOUR Champions winner Mickelson (70), who despite some shaky moments on the back nine will take a one-shot lead over Koepka (70) going into the final round Sunday. “And I’ve been swinging the club well, and so I was executing. I just need to keep that picture a few more times. “So even though it slipped a little bit today,” he added, “and I didn’t stay as focused and as sharp on a few swings, it’s significantly better than it’s been for a long time.” Louis Oosthuizen (72) is two off the lead, and nine players, including major winners Bryson DeChambeau (71) and Gary Woodland (72), are within five. “I left a lot out there,” said Koepka (31 putts). “I’ve got a chance to win, so that’s all I wanted to do today is not give back any shots and be there tomorrow with a chance, and I’ve got that.” Unlike Mickelson, Koepka, who won the PGA in 2018 and ’19, has non-age-related issues. He won the Waste Management Phoenix Open for the second time in February, but shortly after that had surgery to repair a dislocated kneecap and ligament damage to his right knee. “Even though I’m not 100 percent,” he said earlier this week, “I can still hit the shots.” He was in obvious discomfort and unable to bend down to read putts or retrieve his ball from the hole at the Masters. He missed the cut. He also missed the cut at the AT&T Byron Nelson last week, but was pleased, he said, to be able to hit a variety of shots. Kiawah is a very long walk – at 7,876 yards, it’s the longest major venue ever – but at least it’s not hilly. And he’s proven himself correct; he really has hit all the shots. Mickelson would become the oldest men’s major winner, besting Julius Boros, who was 48 at the 1968 PGA. It would be his 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). The Ocean Course is a slippery stage, though, and even in his prime, Mickelson – now 115th in the world, 168th in the FedExCup – was one of the most accident-prone superstars. He led by five shots early on the back nine Saturday but showed cracks over the next two hours. The most glaring of these was his wild hook at the par-4 13th hole. The ball never crossed dry land, and although Mickelson made a valiant effort – hitting three from the tee and sticking his next shot to just over 11 feet – he failed to make the putt and carded a double-bogey. His five-shot lead was down to just one over Koepka and Oosthuizen, and although he striped his tee shot to just under 7 1/2 feet at the par-3 14th hole, his birdie try missed badly. The entire sequence – his failure to birdie the par-5 11th to his failure to birdie 14 – took only an hour. Older players have 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 admits his mental game isn’t what it was. He has tried dietary changes, meditation, and marathon sessions of 36 to 45 holes a day. It’s a work in progress. What remains clear is that he’s having fun. He and Steve Stricker took on Zach Johnson and Will Zalatoris in a practice round earlier this week, and Mickelson birdied the first three holes. “Phil and I were 3-up after three,” Stricker said, “and he said it loud enough so everybody could hear, ‘You know, Strick, I thought we’d be more up at this point.’ And we were 3-up after three. “Typical Phil,” he continued. “It’s good to see him out here. He has such a good time in those practice rounds and seeing everybody it seems like. He still has a tremendous amount of desire to compete at this level, and that’s why he’s doing it and that’s why he’s playing well.” He’s still got one more day of fun, if that’s what this is. He’s still got people watching.

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