Phil Mickelson rolled in a narrow half-meter putt, stretched his arms in the air and thanked the second Brooks Koepka for the round.
After checking his scorecard, he managed to call his wife Amy before it was finally time to lift the victory trophy.
– There are so many I want to thank for this, but mostly my wife, without her I would not have been here. And my brother Tim, he’s taken responsibility, says Mickelson about his caddy.
– I have always thought that it was possible, even when everyone said that it was not. I hope this can inspire others. But you have to fight and train harder at this age.
“Never seen anything like it”
Mickelson is one of the PGA Tour’s most popular players and had the crowd behind him for much of the weekend. When Mickelson went to the 18th green, chaos erupted as thousands of spectators entered the field.
– I’ve never seen anything like it. It was a bit nervous, but very cool. I must also thank everyone who came here and supported us, it was a great atmosphere, says Mickelson.
– I love golf, I love what I do and compete. And getting the chance to play with and against Brooks (Koepka) today was so inspiring, he says of his 20 year younger challenger.
When the two went into the lead ball, many around Kiawah Island in South Carolina thought that the physically stronger Koepka could catch up with “old” Mickelson on the long run.
When Mickelson started with a bogey and Koepka with a birdie, they seemed to get it right. But on hole two, the veteran countered with a birdie against Koepka’s double bogey. At the same time, Louis Oosthuizen cheated in the reeds and also challenged for the victory.
Tied the victory fist
And so it went on until the tenth hole.
There, Koepka began to fail, as did Oosthuizen – while Mickelson rolled in another birdie. Before the 13th, he had a five-stroke lead and had to fix the tension in the competition himself when his input got too hard right-hand screw and bounced into the water.
It was a bogey there and on the 14th, but he did not offer much more, “Lefty” Mickelson. And when the inning on the 18th lay a few meters from the hole, he could clench his fist in the air.
With a total of six strokes under par, the American won by two strokes ahead of compatriot Koepka and South African Oosthuizen.
Mickelson, who turns 51 in three weeks, is the first to win a golf major after crossing the 50 mark. Former oldest winner Julius Boros was 48 years old when he won the PGA Championship in 1968 and he in turn took the record from Tom Morris Sr. – who was 46 years old when he played home the British Open in 1867.
The Swedes are far behind
For the Swedish part, the closing day was as swingy as the whole competition was for the two blue-yellow elements Henrik Stenson and Alex Norén.
Norén lost on Sunday and finished with 75 strokes, three over par. He ends up with his total of six strokes over par in a shared 55th place. Thus, he finishes two strokes better than Henrik Stenson, who after two straight 76 rounds played himself up during the finish.
The 45-year-old alternated his five birdies with four bogeys and got around on 71 strokes, one under par and climbed to a 64th place in the competition.
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