Miraculous Mickelson — Phil Nails Down Historic Win At PGA Championship

There are great moments in sports and there are legendary, historic feats that defy belief and Phil Mickelson etched himself into the history of the game on a sunny, windy Sunday at the 103rd PGA Championship.

Mickelson, who turns 51 on June 16th, went head-to-head for 18 dramatic holes on the player-devouring Ocean Course at Kiawah Island and by the time he reached the 18th green, Phil had a two-shot lead and and easy two-putt for par from just inside 15 feet that made him the oldest man to ever win a major championship.  On an afternoon where low scores were nearly extinct, Mickelson closed with a one-over par 73 and a victorious six-under par total after 72 holes on the longest course in major championship history.

“This is just an incredible feeling,” Mickelson said, looking every bit like the last man standing at Kiawah.  “I believed it was possible although others said it was not.”

Indeed, Mickelson was a 300-to-1 longshot with most sports books at the start of the week for this second major championship of the season.  He’s had a tough two years on the regular Tour and looked more and more bound for the senior circuit.

It was a tough task taking on Brooks Koepka, who played in the final pairing with Phil.  “To play with Brooks Koepka was an exceptional honor, a difficult task for me to go head-to-head and come out on top.”  What Lefty failed to mention is that it was incredibly satisfying to whip Koepka’s butt.

Things didn’t start that well for Phil.  On the first hole, there was a two-shot swing with Koepka making birdie to Mickelson’s bogey and just like that Brooks flipped the script, going from a shot behind to a shot in front.

But the competition between the icon from the past and the star from the present, took a bunch of amazing twists and turns on a tension-filled afternoon before Mickelson wore Koepka out.  At the second hole, there was a three-shot swing with Koepka making a sloppy double-bogey and Phil regaining the lead with birdie.  There would be three other two-shot swings between the two determined major champions.  Mickelson also fired a shot across Koepka’s bow at the par three fifth where Lefty missed the green and from the left sandy waste area, holed out for birdie.

By the time they made the turn, Mickelson built a two-shot lead.  He was even for the first nine while Koepka’s one-over performance left him at five-under, tied with Louis Oosthuizen, who was in the next-to-last pairing with Kevin Streelman.

Mickelson set the tone for his stretch run to the title with a birdie at the 10th and never looked back.  Neither Koepka, Oosthuizen or Streelman were up to the task as the winds prevented anyone from going low in the final four groups.  Bogeys at 10 and 11 by Koepka sent him on his way to an eventual tie for second with Oosthuizen.

Phil gave Brooks and Louie a ray of hope with back-to-back bogeys at 13 and 14 but he bounced back with a par at 15 then at 16 he hit a monster drive, one that traveled 366 yards, three yards longer than Bryson DeChambeau and five past Brooks, who gave it the full treatment off that tee.  A Mickelson birdie sent him to the 17th at seven-under, three clear of Brooks and Louie.

After his tee shot sailed long at 17, Phil went conservative, punched out of the high grass and two-putted for bogey.  At that point, you could tell he was nervous.  After putting with a conventional grip the entire week, he suddenly reverted to the claw to get the two-footer for bogey in the hole.

His march to victory down 18 turned in a get-through-the-mob moment.  After he hit nine-iron safely on the green, the large crowds flooded the fairway and got a little to close for comfort.  “Slightly un-nerving,” was how Mickelson described it afterward.  Koepka had to battle his way through with the help of volunteers and local law enforcement personnel.

The chant “Lefty-Lefty-Lefty” grew louder and louder as everyone knew they were witnessing an historic moment in an ancient game.  The huge crowds that gathered were solidly behind Mickelson all day.

Mickelson holed out for a 73 and a six-under winning total.  He immediately raised his arms in triumph and locked into a long hug with brother/caddie Tim, who Phil credited for getting him through the week, into the winner’s circle.

Forty-five wins and a half-dozen majors now enhance Phil’s impressive resume.  “I just love this game of golf,” Mickelson added.

The great Satchel Page once said:  “Age is a case of mind over matter.  If you don’t mind, it don’t matter.”

Obviously, the almost 51-year-old Phil Mickelson doesn’t mind.

And his struggles on the PGA Tour over the past 24 months just didn’t matter.

103rd PGA Championship Scoreboard: