An exhilarating 2021 PGA Championship met a unprecedented conclusion Sunday afternoon as Phil Mickelson grew to become the oldest main championship winner in golf historical past together with his 6-under 282 giving him a two-stroke victory over Brooks Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen (-4) for the Wanamaker Trophy. Mickelson, 50, is now simply the 14th man to win six or extra majors in his profession.
A 200-1 longshot getting into the 103rd PGA Championship on the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, Mickelson gained his sixth main an astounding 2,863 days after his final with a final-round 1-over 73. It’s simply the third match he has gained over the past eight years since taking the 2013 Open Championship and the primary time he completed higher than T71 on the PGA Championship since 2016.
At 50 years, 11 months and 7 days previous, Mickelson broke the previous record lengthy held by Julius Boros, who gained the PGA Championship at 48 years, 4 months and 18 days previous in 1968. Lefty is three weeks shy of his 51st birthday and might be one other yr older when he makes a run on the U.S. Open, the lone main he has but to win and one which has stored him from capturing the profession grand slam.
The co-leader via 36 holes and solo chief via 54 holes, Mickelson had a dramatic begin to his ultimate spherical with three birdies and three bogeys over the entrance 9. He misplaced, tied and regained the lead earlier than opening a five-stroke benefit at 8 beneath via the twelfth. From there, he was by no means fewer than two strokes away from the sphere down the stretch.
Essentially the most memorable second of Mickelson’s unforgettable weekend got here Sunday on the par-3 fifth when he holed out from a sandy space to an unimaginable ovation. Lefty had been 1 over on the day earlier than that unimaginable shot dropped.
By the point Mickelson referred to as the match down the stretch Sunday, he had achieved 22 birdies — a private report at a PGA Championship — and his first total victory since he took the Pebble Seaside Professional-Am in February 2019.
Mickelson was bombarded by fans as he walked up the 18th inexperienced after a ravishing strategy shot. He two-putted for par to win. The gallery roared, Lefty lifted his palms in victory, and the celebration commenced.
Let’s recap the highest of the 2021 PGA Championship leaderboard.
1. Phil Mickelson (-6): No golfer age 50 or older had gained a significant championship till Mickelson’s win at Kiawah Island. And whereas he definitely stored issues attention-grabbing — bogeys on Nos. 1, 3, 13 and 14 particularly made it really feel just like the tourney was up for the taking — it by no means actually was anybody’s match this weekend however Lefty’s. He crushed his drives all week with precision and got here up with the putts he wanted in spots he wanted them. Mickelson outdrove Brooks Koepka head-to-head and even bested Bryson DeChambeau on a number of holes. As stress mounted late, he performed good golf, settling for bars and the occasional bogey so as to guarantee his aggressiveness didn’t end in extra damning errors. It was classic golf from a Corridor of Famer, and it resulted in his second profession PGA Championship and sixth profession main championship, one thing solely 13 other golfers in history have achieved.
T2. Louis Oosthuizen (-4): After sharing the 36-hole lead with the eventual champion, Oosthuizen battled via the weekend to remain on Mickelson’s heels with a runner-up end — his second on the PGA Championship and fifth in main championships of his profession. If issues had damaged proper for him in Spherical 4 on a number of spots, perhaps he is the victor. However a double bogey on the thirteenth sapped what felt like his ultimate likelihood at a late run.
T2. Brooks Koepka (-4): Coming off of gap No. 1, the place Mickelson bogeyed and Koepka birdied, it seemed as if Koepka would possibly run away with it. However a double bogey on No. 2 for him was an actual momentum killer. Koepka, as he does, fought again and tied for the lead later within the entrance 9. However three bogeys in his first 4 to open the again blew him down the leaderboard whereas Mickelson performed the stretch at even-par. How Koepka was capable of grind out a T2 end is nonetheless outstanding. He had knee surgical procedure in March and missed the reduce on the Masters and Byron Nelson, the one two occasions he performed previous to this weekend. He stays one of many Clydesdale’s on the tour and he is a number of photographs away from a 3rd profession PGA Championship at 31 years previous.
T4. Padraig Harrington, Shane Lowry, Paul Casey, Harry Higgs (-2): Harrington and Lowry posted the low rounds of this bunch, transferring up 19 spots on the leaderboard with matching 69s to shut their respective weeks. Harrington’s massive weekend end punctuates an enormous match displaying for the elder statesmen of golf, because the 49-year-old and 2008 PGA Champion rose to the event Sunday. It was Lowry’s greatest end at a PGA Championship.
T8. Collin Morikawa, Abraham Ancer, Justin Rose, Jon Rahm, Rickie Fowler, Will Zalatoris, Kevin Streelman, Scottie Scheffler, Tony Finau (-1): Reigning PGA Champion Collin Morikawa narrowly made the weekend reduce and struggled Saturday earlier than a final-round 68 to backdoor a top-10. Ancer had the spherical of the week with a 7-under 65. And Fowler, who wanted an exemption to make an look this weekend, confirmed actual combat to earn his first top-10 displaying in 16 months.
