50-year-old Phil Mickelson became the oldest Major champion this past Sunday when he emphatically won the 2021 PGA Championship.
Mickelson, who has been playing most of his golf on the PGA Champions Tour this past year, defied the odds at one of the most challenging courses in Major history.
His experience and quality, however, shone through in a grandstand final round at the Ocean Course in Kiawah Island, where he sealed a two-shot victory for his sixth Major crown.
Mickelson played alongside two-time champion Brooks Koepka for the final day and the pair traded top spot on the leaderboard a number of times at the start.
The wind was once again a huge factor and scoring low became evidently difficult, which also affected South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen, who had a number of birdie putts early on to make his move.
Koepka, hoever, began to fade out and it became a battle between Mickelson and Oosthuizen down the final few holes.
A bad double-bogey on the 13th hole knocked Oosthuizen down, which gave Mickelson a decent gap at the summit.
The South African responded with a birdie on the 16th but it wasn’t enough as he signed off with a final-round 73 to end the week on four under par.
Mickelson also had a shaky back nine but remained determined when it mattered most. Despite a bogey on 17, a par on the final hole was enough for him to seal the two-shot victory for his second PGA Championship triumph.
It was also the fifth time in Oosthuizen’s career that he finished as runner-up at a Major as he and Koepka shared second spot.
