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KIAWAH ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA | At the end of it all, having jostled his way through a runaway gallery encircling the 18th green at the Ocean Course in what felt like an enormous hug, Phil Mickelson popped into the golden light as his chanted name floated on the sea breeze off the Atlantic.
Out of the chaos of the week and particularly this wind-blown Sunday, Mickelson briefly allowed the moment to wash over him like a warm shower. He thrust an arm in the air, a thumb raised, and found himself standing where no one stood before.
He’s always been like no one else and now he’s done what no one ever had, winning a major championship one month shy of his 51st birthday.
In itself, that’s extraordinary but not nearly as extraordinary as the gritty, dogged brilliance Mickelson displayed in winning the most unlikely of his six major championships.
Mickelson’s first Masters victory was the most heartwarming, the 2013 Open Championship was the most impressive and this is the most magnificent for the pure surprise of it.
Park it on history’s bookshelf alongside Nicklaus’ 1986 Masters and Tiger’s 2019 green jacket.
Not only did it happen eight years after his last major victory, it happened at the Ocean Course, a beautifully dangerous place that seemed designed to expose Mickelson’s vulnerabilities. Instead, it revealed his true greatness.
“Certainly one of the moments I’ll cherish my entire life,” Mickelson said. “I don’t know how to describe the feeling of excitement and fulfillment and accomplishment to do something … of this magnitude when very few people thought that I could.”
“I’ve believed for some time now without success that I could play at my best and compete in major championships still, but until this week, I haven’t proven it to myself or anyone else.”
Phil Mickelson
Other than an odd low number here and there, Mickelson hadn’t offered any substantial evidence that he still could contend at the highest level. He repeated a tired refrain about his inability to stay focused long enough to play well but something changed at the Ocean Course.
This was a different Mickelson than we’ve seen through the years. He was measured, deliberate, patient.
He walked like he was in no hurry to get anywhere. He studied each shot like a painter considering an evolving portrait. He turned the emotion inward, his eyes hidden behind his sunglasses and his smile tucked away for later.
This wasn’t Phil the Pied Piper. This was Phil, the methodical mechanic, zip-locked into a personal bubble that couldn’t be penetrated by the ocean winds or Brooks Koepka’s major championship menace.
Pressed on specifics of his new mindset, Mickelson gently deflected the details other than to say he made “some breakthroughs.”
The crowds carried him with their noise and energy but he played like he was wearing earplugs, protecting the elusive focus that exists in his personal lost-and-found department. Other than a random tie for second last summer in Memphis, Tennessee, Mickelson hadn’t finished in the top 20 of a PGA Tour event in 24 starts.
It was fair to doubt him.
“He never doubted himself. His will and desire to win now is as high as it’s ever been in my opinion,” his brother and caddie Tim Mickelson said.
Mickelson started the final round one stroke ahead of Koepka and two ahead of Louis Oosthuizen, the equivalent of being tailgated at 150 mph. The first six holes of the final round were a chaotic mess with Mickelson and Koepka exchanging two or three-stroke swings three times.
Though Mickelson pointed to a 7-iron approach shot to a tucked pin that set up a birdie at the 10th hole as his best final-round shot, a holed bunker shot for birdie at the par-3 fifth felt critical at the time. He had made two bogeys already and wasn’t fully committed to the swings he was making.
When he followed the birdie at No. 5 with a sloppy bogey at the sixth, Mickelson’s brother delivered a message.
“He pulled me aside and said, ‘If you’re going to win this thing, you’re going to have to make committed golf swings,’ ” Mickelson said. “It hit me in the head … I can’t control the outcome, I have to swing committed.”
Tim Mickelson’s other message: Don’t think too much. Hit the shot at hand and worry about what comes later when you get there.
At the Ocean Course, which deserves to be a fixture on the PGA Championship rotation, almost every shot plays like a tightrope walk. It was constructed without bailout areas and, particularly when the sun and wind have turned it crusty, each shot asks a simple but difficult question.
Are you good enough?
With rounds of 70-69-70-73, Mickelson was better than everyone but no one left without scratches and bruises. He hit just more than half of the fairways but Mickelson was brilliant with his iron play, avoiding the big numbers that trap-doored other players.
Mickelson typically has played golf while seeing a wider horizon than others. He has played fearless golf, sometimes misguidedly so, but bravery has always been his strong suit. That’s a dangerous way to approach the Ocean Course but he tempered his bravado, relying more on wisdom and trust built within his team.
Until he started stacking one solid round atop another, it was hard to find a reason to believe in Mickelson.
“I’ve believed for some time now without success that I could play at my best and compete in major championships still, but until this week, I haven’t proven it to myself or anyone else,” he said.
If Mickelson was nervous as the holes began to run out late Sunday, his brother didn’t see it. A birdie at the par-5 16th gave him a little breathing room and eased the sting of a bogey at the frightful par-3 17th where his 6-iron tee shot skittered into high grass behind the green.
On the finishing hole where the crowd collected around him as he marched toward history, he threw a 9-iron shot 15 feet right of the hole and his work was essentially complete. Like Tiger Woods in his comeback victory at the 2018 Tour Championship, Mickelson found himself swallowed among the people in what felt like a raucous revival.
For a disconcerting moment, Mickelson was engulfed, following the blockers in front of him. Eventually, a path cleared and Mickelson emerged from the chaos.
A moment later, the victory complete, Phil and Tim Mickelson were truly brothers in arms, locked in a long embrace that put a sweet bow on an unforgettable and unexpected story.
“It’s been an incredible day,” Mickelson said.
He could hear his name still being chanted, the joy of the moment riding on the wind.
Top: Phil Mickelson leads a deluge of fans toward the 18th green on Sunday.
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