May 24—No one would have guessed the 2021 PGA Championship winner. No one gave him a shot in the dark on Sunday either.
It’ll be one to remember, though, as Phil Mickelson made history to become the oldest golfer to win a major.
Those crowds were massive. The people were on the fairway with Phil waiting for him to make the putt on the 18th hole. It was a madhouse. We saw people running to be wherever Lefty’s ball went. As the round continued, the crowd kept growing around him. If it weren’t for those volunteers and police officers, I’m pretty sure Phil would have gotten trampled before he could have won it.
They had to push Phil and Brooks Koepka through crowds because they lost control of the situation at Kiawah Island Golf Club.
Then there were the “Phil” and “Lefty” chants that just made it that much more awesome to witness.
He had Tiger Woods type crowds following him all day Sunday — no, he had larger crowds than Tiger did.
I just watched in awe at my office desk, and the longer I watched, the more chills I got. Lefty has done it. As the millennials and Gen-Z kids say, it’s the fist pumps, thumbs up and Lefty winning majors for me.
It’s hard to put into words what the PGA Championship meant for golf this week.
Golf got back to normal in the Low Country of South Carolina, and who would have thought Mickelson would be the reason behind it. I surely didn’t after how he’s played up and down all season, but he put it together for four straight rounds.
After Mickelson made his putt on 18, he gave the biggest thumbs up and smiled as if he just ran away with Wanamaker Trophy — oh wait, he did.
I overheard a pair of gentlemen talking at the range Sunday morning about whether or not Phil would get it done because they didn’t think he had the stamina to keep up with a young buck like Koepka.
Well, he did and won the PGA Championship by two strokes. Koepka had to hang on Sunday because it was Mickelson’s to lose.
These are moments that make people fall in love with golf. Regardless of you like Mickelson, I find it hard that anyone doesn’t like him, but he was the best guy on the course this week and, better yet, at 50-years-old.
This win made championship Sunday what it has been missing for the last year, the electricity, the unknown of what could happen — man, I’ve missed this kind of feeling.
Mickelson said he knew he had this kind of golf left in him, and he proved it at Kiawah Golf Club. Now he joins the elite club of winning six majors, where he deserves to be.
This week will be one we golf fans talk about the rest of the year and a Sunday we will never forget. Thank Mickelson for bringing back what Championship Sunday truly means.
The oldest major champion has a nice ring to it, Phil, and I hope you own it.