Mickelson's PGA title a win for the ages

Bob Weeks

TSN Senior Reporter

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At the start of the week, the odds on Phil Mickelson winning the PGA Championship were 280-1. That was probably generous considering the 50-year-old lefthander’s recent form.

In the last two seasons, he’d only managed two finishes inside the top 20. In the six major Strokes Gained categories used to measure performance against the field, Mickelson’s best was 122nd in putting. Most of his game was off and it didn’t seem as if it was coming back any time soon. 

There was absolutely no indication that he was ready to beat the best players in golf on one of the hardest courses in the world, the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island. And yet at the end of the week, there he was with the Wanamaker Trophy raised high, a sixth major championship secured. Mickelson has authored some stunning performances during his lengthy career but none were ever as unexpected as this one. 

Just a month shy of his 51st birthday and eight years removed from his last major title, Mickelson became the oldest golfer to win a major championship, earning a two-shot win over Brooks Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen.

“Certainly one of the moments I'll cherish my entire life,” said Mickelson, who won his first PGA Tour event 30 years ago. “I don't know how to describe the feeling of excitement and fulfillment and accomplishment to do something when -- you know, of this magnitude when very few people thought that I could.” 

It seemed as if Mickelson might go head-to-head with Koepka on the front side as both golfers went back and forth as they tried to find some balance after an up-and-down opening.

Koepka birdied his first hole to tie for the lead but gave it back on the par-5 second with an ugly double. It was a sign of things to come as the four-time major winner played the first three par-5s in four over par. 

Mickelson made three bogeys and three birdies in his first seven holes before settling into a rhythm. 

At one point, he stroked himself to a five-shot lead but bogeys at 12, 13 and 17 brought the margin to just two shots over Koepka and Oosthuizen with one left to play. 

After hitting his second shot towards the left side of the 18th hole, Mickelson found himself in a crush of fans who tried to get close for a piece of history. A nine-iron from 176 yards landed on the green and rolled to 16 feet, all but assuring him of a win. His biggest battle was no longer Koepka, it was trying to wade through the wall of fans, which rushed to the green’s edge, leaving the golfers to fight their way through with the help of police. 

Once settled, Mickelson rolled two more putts and raised his 50-year-old arms to celebrate.

This one was a win for the ages and it was impressive to his younger competitors. 

“I'm super happy for Phil,” said Koepka. “Like I said, it gives you hope that you can -- or it gives me hope that I'm still playing at 50, but to be able to come out and compete and actually win, that's a whole other thing. So kudos to him but it was really cool to see.”

“It was like the Phil that I remember watching just when I turned pro and it was great to see,” added Oosthuizen, who added his fifth runner-up finish in a major. “I mean, what an achievement to win a major at 50 years old, and he deserves all of that today.”

Golfers who reach the half-century mark are supposed to migrate to the PGA Tour Champions where they can happily take on players their own age on courses that are friendlier. 

Of course Mickelson has already done that, winning his first two starts on the 50-and-over circuit, but he still believed he could take on the flat bellies and was determined to show he was right. And by determined, we mean hard-headed, refuse-to-yield, I’ll-show-you-I-can determined. 

“Worked harder, is the deal,” Mickelson said. “I just had to work harder physically to be able to practise as long as I wanted to and I've had to work a lot harder to be able to maintain focus throughout a round. That's been the biggest challenge of late.”

But that was a challenge met, like so many over his career. 

“He just loves golf. He loves golf,” said his brother and caddie Tim Mickelson. “I mean, when he's at home, he's still playing almost every single day, sometimes 36. He's grinding. It never stops for him.”

It was more than just hours of playing golf. There was the transformation of his bag-of-milk-like body into a leaner look thanks to hours at the gym. There was the constant building of his swing with teacher Andrew Getson, who simplified matters to uncloud Mickelson’s busy mind.

And there was one major sacrifice. 

“Food,” said Mickelson, with a half-smile. “I've got to eat a lot less and I've got to eat better. I just can't eat as much and I have to let my body kind of recover.”

Next month the six-time major winner will head home to San Diego and Torrey Pines to play for the one missing jewel in his crown, the U.S. Open. Before his win this week, he was settling on accepting a special invitation from the United States Golf Association to get into the tournament. Now he’s exempt for the next five years. 

“I believe that if I stay sharp mentally I can play well at Torrey Pines,” he stated. “I'll take two weeks off before that and go out to Torrey and spend time, spend time on the greens and really try to be sharp for that week because I know that I'm playing well and this could very well be my last really good opportunity, although I get five more, but really good opportunity to win a U.S. Open. So I'm going to put everything I have into it.”

He may not win, but as the world learned this week, don’t be against it.