Mickelson defies odds and age, provides an unforgettable PGA

It’s not easy for me to summon passion for the PGA Championship, which has been called the Ringo Starr of the golf majors.  Yes it’s a nice tournament, and it has the hundred-year tradition of the Wanamaker Trophy, honoring the little-known founder of the Professional Golfers Association.  But it’s often played in forgettable locations, with conditions not very taxing to the golfers who perform on its tour.  The Masters, U.S. and British Opens are much more a test of champions.

But this year’s PGA rose above the crowd, just as Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course, 17 miles southwest of Charleston, S.C., rises 20 feet above sea level, which isn’t easy for marshland to do. 

I was hoping for television views of a tropical paradise, had to settle for shrubs rather than soaring trees.  With its wide fairways and kindly pin placements, Ocean Course would have been a day at the beach except that the elevated greens (to make the Atlantic viewable) require extreme lift.  As the Mad Bomber, Bryson DeChambeau, found to his dismay (T-38), pitching took precedence over hitting.

There was always wind, 15-27 mph, from multiple directions.  So the golf was unpredictable and fascinating, with a final-round matchup we had no right to expect.  Bruce Koepka, 4-time majors winner but six months shy of full recovery from surgery on a dislocated knee, began the day one shot behind Phil Mickelson, 5 majors but 50 years old, and winning nothing for the past three years. 

Mickelson is now the oldest golfer ever to win a major.  We saw, head to head, two of golf’s titans, though for different reasons off their peak.  Hey, this is the PGA.  

For me, it’s no time to quibble, it’s so good to see and hear fans flocking to sporting events.  You heard a mighty roar whenever Mickelson smacked the ball solidly.  And groans almost as loud when he hooked it into water or sand or under a cart.  Then more cheers as he righted himself and calmly minimized each catastrophe.   

This was not a story of golfing excellence, though there were some remarkable and remarkably timed shots by Mickelson, whose final round of 1-over-par 73 was good for a 2-stroke victory over Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen.

This was a story of grit and of wisdom acquired through age.  By now, Mickelson has seen it all many times over.  He read the shifting wind better than his much-younger cohorts.  He knew more about withstanding pressure.  

And he was bolstered by an army of supporters that keeps growing.  Few athletes are as popular as the ever-gracious Lefty, always seeking self-improvement without being annoyingly perfectionistic.  The long-time “Hefty Lefty” has been svelte for two years, committed to dieting and exercise.  He’s Brady-like in his pursuit of longevity, even developed his own brand of coffee to keep his mind sharp.

“I hope others find that inspiration,” he said during the Wanamaker presentation.  “It might take a little extra work to maintain the skills, but it’s worth it in the end.”

He keeps playing, he said, because he loves to compete in golf.

Typical Phil: When his putt lips out near the end of Saturday’s round, he doesn’t curse or even grimace.  He smiles, stopping just short of tipping his cap to the fickle gods of golf.  

Alas, Koepka is more like the rest of us humans, prone to be abrasive, self-absorbed and unforgiving.  At 31, he doesn’t care about much except winning the majors.  He admits the lesser tournaments cannot entirely capture his focus.  

Sunday’s tango began with Mickelson and Koepka struggling with drivers and irons.  Mickelson credits swing coach Andrew Getson with recalibrating his game, but it comes and goes.  He pushed his tee shot on No. 5 into a bunker but then performed magic with a blast from the sand, dropping the ball three yards from the cup and watching it roll in for a birdie.  The gallery erupted, which the golfer acknowledged with three touches to the bill of his cap and three thumbs-up gestures.  

After Mickelson hit the rough twice on his way to bogeying No. 6, Koepka birdied to catch a share of the lead.  Mickelson made a near-perfect pitch onto No. 7 and birdied, while Koepka bogeyed to fall 2 back, which is where they stood at the turn.

Mickelson, with breathing exercises along the way, stretched his lead to 4 when he bombed a 290-yarder to split the fairway at No. 10 and sank a 10-foot birdie putt, with Koepka missing par from 4 feet.  

Koepka lipped out another 4-footer at No. 11 and fell 5 strokes back.  But Mickelson still had to survive the most treacherous hole on the course, the par-4 No. 13. 

He hooked an iron to the water’s edge but turned escape artist again, salvaging a bogey.  He missed a 4-footer to bogey 14, but he rallied with a precise 337-yard drive at No. 15.  He barely missed a 10-foot birdie that left him 3 shots ahead with 3 holes to play.  

At 16 he continued his surprising power game with a 366-yarder that was the longest drive by any player on Sunday.  Yes, longer than DeChambeau.  That launch preceded a 1-foot birdie putt that basically wrapped the win.

With his brother Tim caddying, Mickelson strode to the 18th green engulfed by cheers.  He kept showing the reassuring thumbs-up.  He provided the appropriate ending, pitching his 9-iron to within 8 feet of the last pin, the roar louder than ever, fans chanting, “Lef-ty, Lef-ty.”  He tapped in for a par.  

He was a 300-1 longshot at Vegas books.  “I believed it was possible,” he said.  “Yet everything was saying it wasn’t.”